Bochum: Malaysia has qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2025 World University Games (WUG) badminton team event after beating France 3-0 in the round-of-16 stage at Westenergie Sporthalle here today.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the French team was determined to challenge the Malaysian players, leading to intense matches that extended to three sets each. The Malaysian mixed doubles pair, Wee Yee Hern and Clarissa San, secured a victory against Lucas Renoir and Flavie Vallet with scores of 15-13, 14-16, 15-12. In the men’s singles, Jacky Kok Jing Hong defeated Enogat Roy 17-15, 13-15, 15-11. Wong Ling Ching, in the women’s singles, clinched the team’s overall victory by overcoming Romane Cloteaux-Foucault 15-10, 11-15, 15-13. The Malaysian team is set to face India in the semifinal later tonight.

Jacky Kok Jing Hong expressed satisfaction with the win, acknowledging the difficulty of the match due to his lack of recent experience against European players, leading to numerous unforced errors. He aims to improve his performance in the subsequent rounds.

Meanwhile, in other events, national taekwondo athlete Ahmad Nor Iman Hakim Rakib did not advance to the round-of-16 in the men’s 68 kilogram kyorugi event after losing 2-0 to Taiwanese competitor Hao-Yu Hsu. Additionally, national swimmer Andrew Goh Zheng Yen did not qualify for the semifinal of the men’s 200 metre breaststroke, despite finishing second in Heat Three with a time of 2 minutes 17.84 seconds at Schwimm-und Sprunghalle im Europasportpark, Berlin.

The athletics squad, which arrived yesterday, is scheduled to conduct their first training session at Lohrheidestadion, Bochum today.