It was another gleaming result as Malaysia increased its medal collection in the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics after national karate exponent V. Yilamaran powered his way to the contingent’s second silver medal, lifting Malaysia to 20th place in the overall standings after Day 10 of competition.
Hopes of securing Malaysia’s second gold were dashed and Yilamaran had to settle for silver after he was edged out 1–4 in the men’s 84kg individual kumite final by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Makhno at the Tokyo Budokan.
Malaysia now stands 20th overall with a haul of 1 gold, 2 silvers and 1 bronze in the Games.
In tenpin bowling, Malaysia’s campaign in the women’s team event came to a close after the team finished sixth with 1,175 pinfalls across seven games at the Higashi Yamato Grandbowl.
Ukraine, Korea, Germany and Chinese Taipei advanced to the semi-finals, ending Malaysia’s outside hopes of adding to its medal tally in the discipline.
On the badminton courts, Malaysia endured a pair of hard-fought defeats in the team competition, narrowly losing 2–3 to Lithuania in the group stage.
Despite advancing to the quarter-finals as group runners-up behind Lithuania, the national squad fell 1–3 to Chinese Taipei.
Malaysia struck first point through the mixed pair Edmund Teo / Boon Wei Ying, who clinched the opening point against Chen Chung-i / Fan Jung-yu. However, Chinese Taipei clawed back momentum as Malaysia’s representatives in the men’s singles, women’s singles, and men’s doubles were all unable to overcome their opponents.
The final day of athletics competition saw Malaysia’s long jump hopes faded away as Zaiman Megat Abu (6.57m) and Hazrul Shah Hamri (6.20m) were unable to progress beyond the qualifying round.
Long-distance runner Azlan Kuste, who previously broke two national records in Tokyo, tried hard but finished 12th of 16 in the 5,000m final, clocking 16:38.49.
The men’s 4x400m quartet — Muhammad Zumar, Shahrul Azmer, Azlan Kuste and Muhammad Zamir Azman — brought Malaysia’s athletics campaign to a spirited close, finishing seventh in the relay final.
Reflecting on the overall performance, national athletics coach Sanusi Zainal Abidin expressed pride in the team’s achievements: “Overall, it was a fruitful outing in Tokyo as, out of seven athletes, six progressed to the final in their respective events, some even setting new national records.
The prospects are quite promising as most of the athletes are still young and capable of competing in at least two more Deaflympics cycles.”
