Malaysia’s national men’s baseball squad will focus on the 2026 East Asia Cup in Manila this December as their key tournament for the season.
THE national men’s baseball squad will focus on the 2026 East Asia Cup, which will take place in Manila, the Philippines this December, as their main international tournament for the 2026 season.
Baseball Federation of Malaysia (BFM) President Sazali Husain said the tournament will serve as an important stage for the national elite squad in their efforts to secure a slot in the 2027 Asian Championship.
“The East Asia Cup brings together countries from the Southeast Asian region along with Hong Kong. It is a qualifying tournament, as the successful teams will qualify for the Asian Championship,” he said after officiating the opening of the Under-15 Isono Rubber Baseball League Championship at the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) baseball field here today.
He added that a long list of players for the men’s squad has already been identified, while the centralised training camp is expected to begin in the near future in preparation for the tournament, alongside plans to bring the national squad to Japan this September.
In a related development, Sazali said Malaysia will host the Malaysia International Women’s Baseball Championship this August, which is expected to see participation from the national teams of Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Thailand, while Singapore’s participation is still in the confirmation process.
Commenting on the 2027 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Thailand, Sazali said that baseball will not be contested in that edition, which means Malaysia will not be sending a team. He also acknowledged that the cost of hosting baseball events at multi-sport games is high; however, BFM will continue to focus on development programmes and participation in planned international tournaments.
Earlier, Sazali also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BFM and ISONO Undouguten Co., Ltd, which provides a cash sponsorship amounting to ¥1 million (approximately RM25,000) from the Japanese baseball equipment manufacturer.
“This is history for us because, for the first time since the association’s establishment in 1998, we are receiving cash sponsorship from an overseas company. It shows that Malaysian baseball is becoming better known on the world stage, and I believe we can achieve even greater things,” he said.
He noted that the sponsorship funds will be utilised to strengthen grassroots development programmes, which are BFM’s priority this year, through the restructuring of the player development pathway starting from the U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, and U-15 categories right up to the national elite team.
