Day 9 of the Deaflympics Tokyo 2025 saw both frustration and flashes of brilliance for the Malaysian contingent — a day where transport troubles cost the bowling men’s team a genuine shot at gold, while the nation’s sprinters rewrote the record books in style.
Malaysia’s men’s team event campaign was affected after a transport blunder which resulted in the squad arriving late at the Higashiyamato Grand Bowl.
Staying at Keio Presso Inn Shinjuku and relying on a 37km, 90-minute bus transfer, the national squad were caught off-schedule due to a mix-up in the organisers’ transport arrangements. As a result, the team — Mohd Firdaus Mohamad, Syabil Azam Syamsul Azam, Ho Choon Seong and Mohd Zaidi Awang — were forced to head straight into competition without the chance to warm up, leaving their rhythm and focus in disarray.
The outcome – the squad failed to progress beyond the first round, ending what had been one of Malaysia’s most promising gold medal hopes in the bowling campaign.
Head coach Joe Tey did not hide his disappointment. “This was a team truly capable of winning gold. It was a golden opportunity lost.”
Malaysia’s remaining hopes now rest on the women’s team and mixed team events.
As of today, Malaysia’s medal tally stands at 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze after nine days of competition.
There was better news in badminton, where Malaysia opened their team event campaign with two flawless victories.
The national squad swept both Brazil and Canada with identical 5–0 scorelines, showcasing depth, discipline, and fresh legs after a rest day.
National coach Sabrina Chong praised her players’ sharpness:
“It was a good outing today. With the rest yesterday, players came in fresh and delivered the results. The real challenge begins against Lithuania tomorrow.”
Malaysia will face Lithuania in their final group match and, barring upsets, are set for a likely quarter-final showdown with China.
At the Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, the men’s 4x100m relay quartet — Muhammad Shahrul Azmer Azman, Muhammad Zamir Azman, Muhammad Zumar and Hazrul Shah Hamri— failed to progress beyond their heats, bowing out early, but not before delivering a performance worthy of applause.
Clocking 44.32 seconds, the quartet set a new national record, eclipsing the previous mark of 44.36 seconds set at the SEA Deaf Games 2025 in Jakarta.
Though the result was not enough to carry them through, the sprinters walked off with their heads held high.
“The challenge is simply huge here — the world’s best deaf sprinters are all present. But we gave everything,” said Shahrul Azmer.
