From Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif
ESSEN (Germany), July 19 (Bernama) -- The national contingent to the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games (WUG) is still waiting for the next medal after the proud achievement of swimming champion Khiew Hoe Yean in Berlin last Thursday.
Hoe Yean's silver medal in the men's 400-metre (m) freestyle swimming event means the national contingent needs six more medals to reach the set target of seven medals regardless of colour.
In the competition, which entered the third day, Malaysia have yet to win another medal after taekwondo exponent Ahmad Nor Iman Hakim Rakib crashed out in the early rounds of the men's kyorugi -68 kilogramme (kg) event at Messe Essen here.
Swimmer Goh Andrew Zheng Yen also crashed out in the early rounds of the men's 200m breaststroke event at the Schwimm- und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark.
However, the badminton camp revived its chances of bringing home a medal in the mixed team event when they advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating France 3-0 in the round of 16 at the Westenergie Sporthalle, Mulheim an der Ruhr.
The legendary Datuk Rashid Sidek's men will face India in the best-of-eight stage tonight (early Sunday morning Malaysia time).
If they manage to advance to the semi-finals, the national squad will meet either Taiwan or Japan tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the swimming squad will continue their challenge tomorrow as Lim Yin Chuen and Arvin Shaun Singh Chahal will each compete in the men's 100m freestyle heats.
The athletics camp, which arrived yesterday, will continue their training and adaptation sessions at the competition venue at Lohrheidestadion, Bochum, tomorrow ahead of the competition curtain-raiser on Monday.
Meanwhile, as of 3.30 pm (9.30 pm Malaysian time), the United States have taken the top spot in the medal standings with 5 gold, 3 silver and 8 bronze medals, followed by the hosts (4-2-4) and South Korea (3-4-3) in third place.
In this edition, Malaysia are participating in six of the 19 sports contested, namely gymnastics, badminton, archery, athletics, swimming and taekwondo, with a contingent of 64 athletes.
WUG 2025 is scheduled to run until July 27.
-- BERNAMA
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