KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- The national men’s and women’s Sevens (7s) rugby teams received a fillip when Hong Leong Yamaha Motor (HLYM) presented a RM200,000 sponsorship to support their participation in the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand at the end of this year.
The sponsorship is channelled to Malaysia Rugby (MR) as support for both the teams’ training and development programmes ahead of the Dec 9-20 biennial Games.
MR president Amir Amri Mohamad said the contribution would be fully utilised to strengthen the Bunga Raya 7s squads, who are also scheduled to compete in several international tournaments as part of their preparations for the 33rd edition of the regional biennial Games.
“This sponsorship marks a new chapter for the Bunga Raya 7s (nickname)… actually, we are surprised by this sponsorship because we know that Yamaha is more (synonymous) with motorsports.
“This sponsorship will be used specifically for the preparation of the men’s and women’s Bunga Raya 7s teams… (it) won’t be used for other teams,” he told a media conference at the official sponsorship event between HLYM and MR at the Hong Leong Yamaha Complex in Sungai Buloh today.
Also present were the coaches, officials and players from the men’s and women’s Bunga Raya 7s squads.
Meanwhile, HLYM managing director Profesor Datuk Dr Jim Khor described the sponsorship as the start of a collaboration between HLYM and MR for the development of the rugby and motorsports in Malaysia.
He also hopes that the contribution will be of help in terms of key requirements, including training, nutrition and athletes’ allowances ahead of the SEA Games.
The national men’s 7s rugby squad won silver at the 2015 edition in Singapore, clinched the gold medal in the 2017 edition on home soil and settled for silver again in the 2019 edition in the Philippines.
Rugby was not contested in the 2021 (Vietnam) and 2023 (Cambodia) editions.
The national women’s team, meanwhile, have won bronze twice - in the 2017 and 2019 editions.
-- BERNAMA
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