Bar None

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 m...

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 ha...

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 tournam...

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, psychologica...

International football is set to go on after a climatic Qatar World Cup, with what's billed as the "ASEAN World Cup" - the 14th edition of the recently rebranded AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup set to run tonight all through mid-January. With Malaysia kick-starting their campaign v Myanmar - the narrative heading into the tournament was disheartening to say the least. With it not being in the FIFA foo...

As we wind down the year, we pick out some of the biggest sporting stories to happen in 2022. We explore sports-washing in these modern times in conjunction with Qatar WC 2022, go into the nitty-gritty of what goes behind taking up the post of Youth & Sports minister & wrap up with a story on the iconic Stadium Shah Alam. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we head to the world of triathlons with engineer by day, triathlete by night Kuok Yuen Teh - who broke the national triathlon record in Italy with a record of 9 hours and 28 minutes, a record which was previously set in 2000s at 9 hours 50 minutes. The experienced 35-year-old is currently working towards becoming the first Malaysian man to go under 9 hours (sub9) in triathlons by the ag...

Qatar is set to be the centre of the planet this weekend making history as the first middle-east country to host the World Cup. However, for over 12 years since FIFA awarded them, the state had to answer to reports of worker abuse, homophobia, sexism & racism which are well documented with exposés in the media. On the money side, Qatar has spent over $300 billion on the event, which is over fifty...

With the general elections looming, post GE-15 will see the fourth Youth & Sports minister in a little over five years. Long-term policies and consistent plans are ideal, however not always the case where incoming ministers come with new ideas, often derailing the plans of their predecessors. This week on the programme, we explore the role of a Youth & Sports minister and the different nuances tha...

With amazing track records in junior racing, 20 year old Syarifuddin Azman or commonly known as Damok, was recently announced to be competing for a full season of Moto3 with the MT Helmets-MSI team next year. Last weekend - after a two year hiatus - he raced and claimed the 16th position as a wildcard rider in Moto3 race at the Petronas Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sepang International C...

After budget allocation for sports was cut by almost 70% in 2022, the 2023 Budget promises more goodies in all sectors of the ecosystem with RM332million allocated to the industry. Notwithstanding the fact that the budget will be retabled/tweaked following the dissolution of parliament & the upcoming general elections - this week, we dive deeper into the allocation covering all facets of the indus...

Over the weekend, one of the deadliest stadium disasters happened in Malang, East Java when local rivals Arema FC lost to Persebaya Surabaya - the Arema's first home lost in this fixture for over 23 years. Fans stormed the pitch causing police & authorities to react firing teargas trapping fans and causing at least 125 fans their lives - including 32 young children - and hundreds more hurt in the...

At the recently concluded 20th SUKMA (Malaysia) Games, one of the biggest controversies was on the news that three weightlifters (one from Perlis, two from Terengganu) tested positive for banned substances throwing the entire event into uncertainty. The Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) ultimately pulled out from conducting the event, leaving a group of weightlifting enthusiasts to run it....

After two years of inactivity, the World Dodgeball Championships returned with our men's national team capturing their third world title defeating Australia 10-5 in the final. Following their success in 2017, 2018 and as world #1 - the squad met all expectation as they were heavy favorites coming into the tournament in Edmonton. Joining us on the programe this week, is team captain Aaron Peck & co...

Onto its ninth season now, the all-electric racing series Formula E has been picking up steam with its mission to race through the streets of the most iconic cities in the world - to show just what sustainable mobility is capable of and how driving electric vehicles can make for a better, cleaner future. One of the top teams in the series, Jaguar TCS Racing - has been growing from strength to stre...

Over the weekend, badminton history was made as national men's doubles Aaron Chia & Soh Wooi Yik etched their names into sporting folklore by becoming the first ever Malaysian world champions after their exploits at the 2022 BWF Championships in Tokyo. The much-maligned duo silenced their critics - shaking off the so-called 'semi-final' curse - by taking down the experienced Indonesians & 3-time w...

Eight years after arriving on our shores, Australian coach Brad Maloney leaves Malaysia to be at the helm of the Australian U-17 team. Leaving with a wealth of experience, the 50 year old - who spent his playing career with top A-league clubs and has represented Australia alongside the likes of Mark Viduka - was primarily in charge of youth football development in Malaysia, having groomed the like...

At the recently concluded 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the Malaysian team put in a solid shift - surpassing the six gold medal target set for the contingent - coming home with seven gold, eight silver & eight bronze. New stars were born too with names like Ng Jo Ee (rhythmic gymnastics) & Ng Tze Yong (badminton) introducing themselves onto the international stage to great effect. The young...

After winning the inaugural para-badminton gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, national shuttler Cheah Liek Hou has been going from strength to strength - currently on a 56 match winning streak & his eleventh consecutive championships, after his heroics at the at the 4 Nations Para Badminton International 2022 in Ireland. Gaining national prominence after the Tokyo win, he joins us on the pr...

For years now, Stadium Shah Alam has been plagued with structural issues due to a lack of proper maintenance, so much so that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deemed the iconic landmark unsafe, forcing their home team, Selangor FC to move out for this season's Super League. Amidst public uproar of an initial proposal to demolish the stadium - as revealed by Selangor MB Amirudin Shari - l...

Recently, discussions at the highest level of sports administration revealed proposed plans to grade sports facilities & venues around the country. With an aim to make sports more accessible and to increase the number of grassroot talent, the plan takes a page out of restaurant/hotel grading which would suspend low-grade facilities forcing them to improve to a satisfactory level of quality. How wo...

After 18 long years donning the Jalur Gemilang at the highest level, national high-jumper Lee Hup Wei hung up his spikes in March, calling the curtain on his illustrious athletics career. The experienced 35 year old will be part of the national setup grooming the next generation of high-jumpers. He's the first Malaysian track and field athlete to reach the final at the 2019 Doha World Championship...

With the Hanoi SEA Games come & gone, our young Malaysian contingent surpassed the medal-targets with 39 gold, 45 silver and 90 bronze medals – however a feat that only put us in sixth-place in the standings - which is our worst results in the SEA Games for 40 years in terms of final-rankings. However, a campaign that had its silver-linings as well, sports journalist Nicholas Anil joins us on the...

The golden-era of 1992 was the last time Malaysia lifted the prestigious Thomas Cup as part of only five nations that have won it. It's now six nations, where over the weekend - India created history clinching their first-ever Thomas Cup (and medal). The Zii-Jia led Malaysian contingent left much to be desired, going down to the eventual champions in the quarter-finals after a strong group-stage....

The postponed SEA Games is now well underway in Hanoi. Malaysia have sent a huge contingent of 584 athletes, with over half of them being debutants. Alongside a bunch of fresh faces, national stalwarts such as divers Datuk Pandelela Rinong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Wendy Ng, recurve archer Khairul Anuar and others will be battling it out to reach our target of 146 medals. We preview the multisport tour...