Berlin: National swimming ace Khiew Hoe Yean lived up to expectations by advancing to the final of the men’s 400-metre freestyle at the 2025 World University Games (WUG), held at the Schwimm-Und Sprunghalle Im Europasportpark in Berlin today. It was a redemption of sorts for the national 400m freestyle record holder, as he was eliminated early in the previous edition in Chengdu, China.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, in today’s race, Hoe Yean, who competed in Heat 5, finished third with a time of 3 minutes 50.13 seconds, behind American swimmer Ryan James Erisman Jr (3:48.81s) and Nikolai Kolesnikov, who represented the Individual Neutral Athletes (3:48.75s). That time placed the 22-year-old among the four fastest swimmers to qualify for the final, along with Brazil’s Eduardo Oliveira De Moraes, who clocked 3:48.84s to top Heat 4.

The final is scheduled to take place on Thursday tonight (early Friday morning Malaysian time). The last time Malaysia won a medal in swimming at the WUG was through Jeffrey Ong, who took silver in the 1,500m freestyle event at the 1991 Sheffield edition.

Meanwhile, in taekwondo, national poomsae representatives Chin Ken Haw and Yow Mei Yee were both eliminated in the Round of 16 of the individual events held at Messe Essen. The 2025 WUG, featuring 19 sports with 234 gold medals up for grabs, officially opened yesterday and will run until July 27.