MALAYSIA’S quest for medals at the 2025 World University Games (WUG) continues tomorrow, with attention on the taekwondo and swimming squads, as well as the badminton team, which is set to open its campaign.
The taekwondo athletes will return to the mats at Messe Essen in the men’s team poomsae event, offering a chance to redeem the national camp’s disappointment following underwhelming performances in the individual and mixed pair events today.
The national trio comprises Randy Owen Augustine Linggi, Chin Ken Haw, and Jason Loo Jun Wei.
Meanwhile, at the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark in Berlin, national swimming ace Khiew Hoe Yean is once again expected to be among the frontrunners as he competes in the 200m freestyle, aiming to improve on his fourth-place finish at the previous edition in Chengdu, China.
In Mulheim an der Ruhr, the national badminton squad, under the tutelage of head coach Datuk Rashid Sidek, will begin their campaign at Westenergie Sporthalle against Canada in their Group D opener of the mixed team event.
Victory would secure Malaysia the top spot in the group and potentially pave the way for an easier knockout stage.
The national team aims to improve on their previous tally of two bronze medals and is eyeing at least a silver this time.
Earlier today, Hoe Yean made headlines by qualifying for the final of the 400m freestyle event, surpassing his performance from the last edition, where he failed to progress past the preliminary round.
Competing in heat five, the national 400m freestyle record holder finished third with a time of 3 minutes 50.13 seconds, behind American swimmer Ryan James Erisman Jr (3:48.81s) and Nikolai Kolesnikov, who represented the Individual Neutral Athletes (3:48.75s).
The final is scheduled to take place tonight (early Friday morning Malaysian time).
The 2025 WUG, featuring 19 sports with 234 gold medals up for grabs, officially opened yesterday and will run until July 27 – BERNAMA
