Bar None

Fresh of another race win in Estonia, national & world #1 tower runner Soh Wai Ching adds yet another record under his belt, where in conjunction with World Health Day last Friday, the 28 year old conquered the "Farthest Simulated Distance Climbed on a Stair Machine in One Hour". He climbed a distance of 1.64km in 60 minutes, which to put it in perspective is almost four times the height of the KL tower.

Pending confirmation from the Guinness World Records, this would be his second GWR achievement after gaining the "Greatest Vertical Height Stair Climbing" accolate a couple of years back. He joins us on the programme as we recount the feat while previewing what's to come in 2023.

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With origins dating back to 1950s Italy, Finswimming is an underwater swimming sport where athletes race against each other with the use of floating and breathing equipment like masks, fins, snorkels and a scuba diving set. Known as the F1 of swimming due to its increased speed as compared to conventional swimming, it's a sport that's been recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is a part of the World Games. In Malaysia, it's still very much in its infancy with the Malaysian Finswimming Association (MFSA) only founded just before the Hanoi SEA Games last year. Ravivarma Sanmugam, President of the MFSA gives us the low-down about this fast-paced highly competitive underwater sport.

That's A Sport is a brand new monthly series where we look to explore and discover some lesser known sport around the globe.

image credit: Utusan/ Mohd. Shahjehan Maamin.

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The badminton season is well underway now with the recently concluded 2023 All England Open as one of the major tournaments of the season. The Malaysian contingent went in with high hopes of reversing their poor run of form this year, however only managed a semis & quarters spot while the rest crashed out early in the prestigious Super 1000 tournament. In an event which marked the comeback of powerhouses China, we break down each category analyzing the downfalls and pick out silver linings in a pretty lacklustre outing.

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Local women's football has been picking up in the recent years, however still light years away from reaching the widespread coverage & fandom of the men's game. Social leagues have helped give aspiring (as well as professional) women a platform to express themselves through the beautiful game - and one of the biggest tournaments is the Women's Super League helmed by the FA of Selangor. This weekend mark the climax of the tournament as two teams take to the pitch to claim the second editon's crown. City-council side MBSJ FC will face off against university outfit UPNM as their captains Steffi Sidhu & Azurin Mazlan -- both also represent Malaysia at the international level - join us as we preview the finals.

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For over 20 years, Sharon Wee had ruled supreme on the squash court, a former national #1 & world #18. After she retired in 2010, she wanted to remain with the national setup by lending her experience with senior coaching - however, that wasn't meant to be. Enter TV and sports broadcasting, as she took the plunge and made a successful endeavor diving into sports punditry and hosting. She also has since taken up the post of vice-president at Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia and was recently appointed as deputy chef de mission at the upcoming SEA Games in Cambodia. She joins us on the programme as we talk about her accomplished career, challenges moving into broadcasting, as well as uncover her passion to champion many youth and women empowerment programs.

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At the recent 21st Asian Junior Team Championships held in India, the Malaysian juniors performed superbly with the women's squad bagging their tenth crown & fourth consecutive title beating Hong Kong 2-0 while in the men's team event - Malaysia ended up joint third, going out in the semi-finals to eventual champions Pakistan. A big part of that success is through the guidance of longtime Juniors coach Andrew Cross who in 2019 was made National Assistant Head coach of the Senior squad. He joins us on the programme this week as we review the recent championships while charting the landscape of Malaysian squash in the near future.

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For the upcoming season of local football, the MFL has teamed up with Astro as they return to be the official broadcaster of MFL’s Liga Malaysia six competitions - which includes the big three, Liga Super, Piala FA, and Piala Malaysia. Also included in the wide-ranging three-year deal is the curtain raiser in the Piala Sumbangsih, MFL Challenge Cup, and MFL Cup. With this comes a large sum of TV money pouring back into the top tier of local football, with clubs getting an injection of funds from this deal - which could mean that long-standing issues like unpaid wages could be eradicated. Joining us to dissect this partnership is twentytwo13's Haresh Deol.

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We've all heard of the Olympic Games & the Paralympics, but little is known about the Special Olympics World Games - the largest sporting event that promotes and advances a world of full inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities. Founded in 1968, the global movement now provides a safe space for over five million athletes from 174 different countries.

On the horizon is the World Games happening in Berlin in June, with the Malaysian contingent of 22 athletes who will represent the country in a variety of sports. This week, we find out more about Special Olympics Malaysia's mission to empower athletes & how sport can be the catalyst for inclusion & acceptance.

picture credit: Special Olympics 

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In our worst showing at a home tournament since 2015, the national contingent had an underwhelming performance at the recently concluded Petronas Malaysia Open, with not one national shuttler making it to the semi-finals. The home-favorites of national ace Lee Zii Jia, World #3 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik & French Open champions Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah all sent packing in the early stages of the tournament. Having being elevated for the first time as a Super 1000 tournament, the last time we saw gold was when Datuk Lee Chong Wei picked up his 12th Malaysia Open title in 2018. A massive disappointment in front of the home-crowd, is this merely a blip for Malaysian badminton or a sign of things to come in 2023? Dissecting the action is sports journalist & badminton correspondents Nicholas Anil & Fabian Mark Peter.

source: BERNAMAPIX

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In light of the recent viral video where a U14 coach was filmed slapping two of his players, an incident that's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to protecting children's welfare as well as the safety of grassroot sport. Enter the Safe Sport Act - a nationwide initiative that aims to create a safe space where participants can train, compete and thrive without fear of physical, psychological or sexual misconduct. A project helmed by ex-gymnast Sarina Sundara Rajah, she joins us on the programme as we dissect & explore how incidents like this can be curbed moving forward.

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