10 Sports You Didn't Know Malaysians Were Totally Good At
Not to discredit our dear Datuk Lee Chong Wei, but it's time to we give some due recognition to other sports that Malaysians have been acing.
By John Lim — 21 Aug 2015, 05:29 PM
1. CrossFit: In just two years, 29-year-old Maslina Ismail has clenched several CrossFit titles across the South East Asia region
Maslina Ismail – the young lass who took several CrossFit titles in just two years, she is also indisputably the strongest Malaysian woman in the CrossFit scene. Coming from a family of avid sport lovers, she enjoys staying active by taking part in weight training, cross-fit games, cycling, running and bootcamp activities. Her most recent achievement was winning 1st place at the Bangkok Brawl Crossfit Competition in January 2015.
macaronmalaysia.com
In CrossFit over the last 2 years, she’s learned and improved her techniques to take third place in the Manila Throwdown in May last year. With this boost to ignite her motivation in the next few months, Maslina participated in the Kota Kinabalu’s X45 Challenge and placed runner-up.
toughasia.com
Affiliated with CrossFit Vidatha in Publika, KL, Maslina has been working hard with guidance from her coaches on improving the various disciplines required. She’s also taken an interest in weight lifting which is rare for girls, and finds it fun (especially when she carries more weights than some guys). Good basic and techniques are important in this discipline.
toughasia.com2. Dodgeball: The sport involves two teams throwing balls at each other, and we're VERY good at it. The national dodgeball team won the silver and bronze medal recently at the world championships.
Dodgeball is a game in which players on two teams try to throw large balls at each other while avoiding being hit themselves. There are many variations of the game, but generally the main objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, catching a ball thrown by a member of the opposing team, or forcing them to move outside the court boundaries when a ball is thrown at them.
The national men's dodgeball team achieved a best-ever second place finish overall while the women came in a respectable third at the World Championships in Las Vegas, United States today. The men, who beat Canada in the semi-finals, were edged 7-6 by the United States in the decider. Canada defeated Australia in the playoff to finish third.
The women lost to the US in the semi-finals but bounced back to down Canada 7-4 in the playoff. The US beat Australia in the final to make it a double victory for the hosts.
3. Golf: Danny Chia is Malaysia's top golfer. In fact, he was the FIRST Malaysian ever to win on a professional tour!
Chia picked up golf from his father, a businessman, when he started following him to the driving range, and grew up adoring Jack Nicklaus. In 2002, Chia made history by becoming the first Malaysian to win a tour title in Asia when he claimed a two-stroke victory at the Acer Taiwan Open. He was seven shots off the pace heading into the final round but fired a 68 to pip overnight leader Hsieh Yu-shu.
wsgworld.com
In 2008, Danny Chia showed his class by recording a wire-to-wire victory in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Thailand – the season-ending tour Championship on the Mercedes-Benz Tour.That trophy sits alongside the one he claimed in 2007 at the International Championship in Jakarta – the very first event staged on the fledgling circuit.
At the Maybank Malaysian Open in 2008 and 2009, he led an illustrious field going into the weekend. The pressure of becoming the first Malaysian to win the national open however proved insurmountable then but he is certainly poised to take the title in the near future.
wsgworld.com
4. Floorball: Having won silver in the SEA Games last year, we're expecting our floorball teams to do even better in years to come!
The floorball squad proved they are among the best in Southeast Asia when they clinched both the men’s and women’s team silver medal in the SEA Games this year.
themalaymailonline.com
In fact, this is the first time floorball will feature competitively at the biennial Games. The sport had made its debut in the previous edition of the Games as a demonstration sport with no official medals given out.
redsports.sg
Floorball is a fast-paced, exciting, safe and low-cost type of indoor hockey. At first glance, it resembles floor hockey or ball hockey but is played with specialized light-weight fibre glass or carbon fibre sticks and rules that promote safety and skill.
5. Lawn bowling: Just last year at the Commonwealth Games, the national lawn bowl team secured a silver medal, after losing to Scotland
The Malaysian lawn bowl team added a silver to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games medal tally through Fairul Izwan Abd Muin and Muhammad Hizlee Abdul Rais from the men's pairs, today. Fairul and Hizlee lost to Scotland's Paul Foster and Alex Marshall 20-3 in the final of the men's pairs at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls centre.
themalaysianinsider.com
According to the current lawn bowl world ranking, Malaysian veteran Hizlee Rais currently ranks number 3 in the world!
6. Rally motorsport racing: 23-year-old Kenneth Koh is Malaysia's youngest podium finisher
With a father that used to be a rally racer, growing up around roaring engines and the dust and smoke that fast cars left behind, Kenneth Koh is Malaysia’s youngest Rally Racer – a story of a boy that’s been in the scene since he was first able to walk at the tender age of 2.
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Officially, Ken started rallying at the legal driving age of 17 and went on to win both the Malaysian 2wd and Junior Categories in the Malaysian Rally Championship at age 20 – changing history and becoming the youngest podium finisher in Malaysia by far. The very next year he took the leap of faith and became a professional rally driver, upgrading himself to International Rallying.
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7. Weightlifting: We don't lack in strong men and it shows through the medals we've won over the years
Mohd Hafifi Mansor clinched a gold medal for Malaysia at the 20th Commonwealth Games in the men’s weighlifting 69kg category. Mohd Hafifi, 24, lifted a total 305kg — 135kg in the Snatch and 170kg in the Clean and Jerk in the final at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre Precint.
themalaymailonline.com
National back-up weightlifter Mohd Pisol Zulhelmi won Malaysia's first medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games when he managed a silver in the men's 56kg event. The Penangite managed a total lift of 245kg to finish behind India's Dey Sukhen, who won the gold with a total lift of 248kg. India also took the bronze through Mali Ganesh with 244kg.
thestar.com.my8. DOTA 2: Recognised by the government as 'eSports', Team Malaysia is currently the 8th best team in the world and Southeast Asia's best!
Team Malaysia traces its roots to Orange eSports, which was formed by Team Malaysia captain Chai "Mushi" Yee Fung on 5 September 2011, Orange eSports then disbanded later in the year. After numerous member changes and reshuffling, Team Malaysia was formed in March 2015.
Fnatic, a prestigious organisation based in UK acquires Team Malaysia to its long list of successful DOTA 2 teams. Fnatic is a name that is a well-known name within the DotA 2 community. Back in 2012 the then Fnatic squad made the move from Heroes of Newerth and soon became the longest standing stable roster over the course of the next 2 years.
gosugamers.net9. Wakeboarding: Aaliyah Yoong may only be 11-year-old, but she already has two SEA Games gold medal under her belt
Eleven-year-old Aaliyah Yoong insisted she was already a “veteran” in competitive wakeboarding as she became the Singapore SEA Games’ youngest winner today. The Malaysian prodigy has some justification for the claim as in 2011, she won SEA Games gold aged only eight to set the record as the tournament’s youngest ever champion.
themalaymailonline.com
This year, Aaliyah Yoong lived up to expectations when she successfully defended her gold in the women's tricks waterski event at the Singapore Sea Games despite the tough weather conditions.
10. Archery: Just 3 months ago, the national women archery team made history by winning a gold medal at the Stage One 2015 Archery World Cup
The national women archery team celebrated a historic victory after winning a gold medal in the Compound trio’s event at the Stage One 2015 Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China, yesterday. The Malaysian trio comprising Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, Nor Rizah Ishak and Saritha Cham Nong beat an USA women’s team comprising Crystal Gauvin, Angela Bradley and Lexi Keller, 220-219 in a tight and exciting final. Despite a strong start from the American women which saw them leap three points ahead after the first end, they found themselves tied with the Malaysian on 111 and 166 respectively.
theborneopost.com
Earlier this year at the Singapore SEA Games, the men’s trio of Mohd Juwaidi Mazuki, Lee Kin Lip and Zulfadli followed suit by edging Indonesia in a nail-biting contest. The match ended level at 222-222, but the Malaysians displayed superb calmness to post a 10 each for a perfect 30 to the Indonesians’ 29 in the shoot-off.