Malaysia Head Into 2025 WUG With 'All For One, One For All’ Mindset

By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif

ESSEN (Germany), July 15 (Bernama) -- The cream of Malaysia's top varsity athletes are all primed for action in the 2025 World University Games (WUG) at the Rhine-Ruhr here from July 16-27.

A total of 64 national athletes - 39 men and 25 women - will compete in artistic gymnastics, badminton, archery, athletics, swimming and taekwondo at the biennial Games, hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU).

The WUG 2025 is one of the biggest Games to be held this year, with an estimated 9,000 athletes and officials from over 100 countries converging on the five major cities in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area, namely Bochum, Duisburg, Essen, Mülheim and Hagen, as well as the city of Berlin.

The Rhine-Ruhr holds a long heritage in the university sports landscape.

Before the emergence of the modern WUG in 1959, Germany had hosted the Third International University Sports Week in Dortmund in August 1953, which became one of the early symbols of the revival of European sportsmanship after World War II.

Duisburg, one of the main venues, is also remembered for successfully hosting the 1989 edition, just 153 days after replacing the original hosts, Sao Paolo of Brazil.

 The 2025 WUG's official mascot, called Wanda, is a peregrine falcon, which is renowned for recording the fastest speed in a downward dive (called a stoop) at over 300 kilometres (km) per hour.

This beautiful bird not only symbolises speed and agility, but is also the most widespread species in the world, living in a variety of environments, including urban and post-industrial areas along the Rhine and Ruhr Rivers.

For the national contingent, who are targeting seven medals, their participation this year is not only to fulfil the international competition schedule, but also a platform to test the capabilities of the athletes and gain international experience.

In athletics, all eyes will be on national sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi, who has been given the honour of being the flag-bearer, as well as national 400-metre (m) record holder Umar Osman and national shot put record holder Jonah Chang Rigan.

Malaysia will be featuring the 2024 Paris Olympics women's recurve trio of Syaqiera Mashayikh, Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi and Nurul Azreena Mohamad Fazil in archery.

Hopes are high that 2023 Cambodia SEA Games gold medallist Muhammad Syafiq Zuber and rising poomsae star Yow Mei Yee will kick up a storm in taekwondo.

Olympian and national 400m freestyle record holder Khiew Hoe Yen has the potential to make a splash in swimming, while the badminton squad, under the tutelage of head coach Datuk Rashid Sidek, are determined to improve on the two-bronze collection at the previous edition.

Malaysian chef de mission Datuk Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Hafiz Yusoff said the Malaysian contingent's strength this time lies in their spirit of togetherness.

"From my observation, we have received very good assistance and moral support from all parties, particularly from the Ministry of Higher Education, Sports Section, MASUM (Malaysian University Sports Council), (and) the IPT (institution of higher learning), which all come all under one banner, namely Malaysia.

"We are not here as different representatives of UM (Universiti Malaya), UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara) or UPM (Universiti Putra Malaysia), what we have brought along is just one - the Jalur Gemilang. That is the spirit, strength and uniqueness of Team Malaysia at the 2025 WUG,” he told Bernama.

However, he admitted that the contingent faced a big challenge following the implementation of a decentralised format by the hosts.

"The format for this year's Games is not centralised. All events will be held at different locations across six cities. Our contingent will have to operate separately and arrange their logistics themselves. The biggest challenge is how to retain team spirit and lift athlete morale.

"Due to the different locations and the absence of a centralised placement, it will be difficult for us to foster the spirit of togetherness of team spirit like at other Games. We are concerned with the emotional highs and lows among our athletes due to the different environments (they will be competing in),” he said.

The official opening ceremony of the 2025 WUG, which will see 19 sports contested and 234 gold medals on offer, is slated to be held at the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena in Duisburg tomorrow night (midnight Malaysian time).

-- BERNAMA