<figure id="attachment_3079387" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3079387" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3079387 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/3a8582f1-pearly-thinaah-bernama-080625-1.webp" alt="pearly thinaah" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3079387" class="wp-caption-text">Pearly Tan-M Thinaah became the nation’s first women’s badminton doubles pair to enter the finals of the World Championships. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
PETALING JAYA: 2025 saw Malaysian sports reach new heights. While a few <a href="https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2025/11/19/fam-didnt-just-fail-it-forged-a-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversies</a> made the headlines, they fade in comparison to the historic feats and record-breaking performances of the country’s athletes.
Here’s a look back at some of the most memorable victories.
1. Pearly-Thinaah reach the finals in Paris
The world No. 2 pair has been unstoppable this year, winning a record three World Tour titles and reaching a total of seven finals.
Their most historic moment, however, came as a Merdeka gift.
Defeating Japanese rivals Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida in a 66‑minute semi-final thriller, Pearly Tan and Thinaah M became the nation’s first women’s doubles pair to reach a <a href="https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/08/30/pearly-thinaah-make-history-by-entering-world-championships-final" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Championships final</a>, since the tournament began in 1977.
They secured a silver medal in Paris on Aug 31
2. Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s historic gold medal
<figure id="attachment_2958255" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2958255" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2958255 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/3498c3db-tang-jie-ee-wei-bernama-pic-edit-100125.webp" alt="Tang Jie-Ee Wei" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2958255" class="wp-caption-text">Toh Ee Wei-Chen Tang Jie defeated China’s world No 2 pair to claim their mixed doubles title in Paris. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
And there’s more for badminton!
<a href="https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/08/31/tang-jie-ee-wei-are-world-champs-after-historic-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei</a> became the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to win a World Championships gold medal.
The world No. 4 duo defeated China’s world No. 2 pair Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin 21‑15, 21‑14 in Paris, to secure their first title of the season.
3. C Shahmalarani ends Malaysia&#8217;s 11-year medal drought
<figure id="attachment_3246143" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3246143" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3246143 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/164f02d7-c-shahmalarani-c-shahmalarani-instagram-pic-301225.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3246143" class="wp-caption-text">C Shahmalarani won silver at the World Karate Championships in Cairo, Egypt. (C Shahmalarani Instagram pic)</figcaption></figure>
C Shahmalarani claimed silver in women’s kumite (‑50 kg) at the World Karate Championships in Cairo, Egypt &#8211; the nation’s first world medal in the event since 2014.
Earlier in May, she became the first Malaysian in 13 years to reach an Asian Karate Championships kumite final, taking silver in Tashkent.
Shahmalarani capped the year by completing a SEA Games “golden treble”, successfully defending her title and cementing her regional dominance.
4. Para‑Cycling World Championships
<figure id="attachment_3246147" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3246147" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3246147 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/777dfd91-nuraini-muhamad-shukri-emel-pic-301225.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3246147" class="wp-caption-text">Nuraini Muhamad Shukri has become the first Malaysian woman to win a medal at the 2025 UCI Para‑Cycling Road World Championships in Belgium. (Official People of Malaysia Instagram pic)</figcaption></figure>
Nuraini Muhamad Shukri won bronze in the C1 time trial at the 2025 UCI Para‑Cycling Road World Championships in Belgium, the first Malaysian woman to win a medal at the world event.
Earlier in 2025, Nuraini competed at the 13th Asian Para Road Cycling Championships, and won two gold medals, which established her as one of Asia’s top competitors.
5. Malaysian Wushu team’s best performance yet
<figure id="attachment_2899563" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2899563" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-2899563 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3fd9eefa-tan-cheong-min-bernamapic-261024.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-2899563" class="wp-caption-text">Wushu queen Tan Cheong Min delivered the country’s first gold medal at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
Malaysia had its best ever performance at the World Wushu Championships in Brazil with a total of eight medals (five gold, one silver, and two bronze).
Tan Cheong Min was a standout, winning gold in women’s Nangun and as part of the women’s Duilian team, along with silver in Nandao.
Si Shin Peng claimed two individual golds, while Lee Jia Rong added a gold and bronze.
These results marked Malaysia’s first golds at a World Wushu Championships in over a decade.
Earlier in the year, at the World Games in Chengdu, Tan Cheong Min also secured Malaysia’s first-ever gold in wushu at the Games.
6. First Malaysian World Table Tennis title
<figure id="attachment_3246148" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3246148" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3246148 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/07f78a91-lifestyle-women-emel-pic-301225.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3246148" class="wp-caption-text">Karen Lyne Dick (left) and Tee Ai Xin bagged Malaysia’s first ever World Table Tennis title in August this year in Laos. (Table Tennis Association of Malaysia Facebook pic)</figcaption></figure>
In August, Karen Lyne Dick and Tee Ai Xin made history for Malaysian table tennis by winning the women’s doubles title at the WTT Feeder Vientiane event in Laos.
They defeated a Taiwanese pair, securing Malaysia’s first-ever WTT World Tour tournament victory.
The duo continued their strong run later in the year at a WTT event in Portugal, breaking into the ‘top 50 in the world’ women’s doubles rankings.
7. SEA Games
<figure id="attachment_3236688" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3236688" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-3236688 size-full" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/e4b278a9-irfan-smashes-26-year-old-sea-games-bernama-pic-161225.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3236688" class="wp-caption-text">National discus champion Irfan Shamsuddin secured a gold medal and set a SEA Games record. (Bernama pic)</figcaption></figure>
Malaysia sent its largest-ever contingent of 1,142 athletes to the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand &#8211; and they delivered.
Surpassing their 200-medal target, the country finished with a record 231 medals (57 gold, 57 silver, 117 bronze), claiming fourth place overall.
<ul>
<li>Grace Wong Xiu Mei dominated the women&#8217;s hammer throw, winning gold and breaking the SEA Games record four times.</li>
<li>Megan Ding Min Ern, 17, became one of the youngest Malaysian equestrian champions, taking gold in individual dressage and surpassing Qabil Ambak’s SEA Games record.</li>
<li>Malaysia’s football team won bronze, the country’s first football medal since 2017.</li>
<li>Irfan Shamsuddin secured his seventh consecutive SEA Games discus gold, breaking the 1999 SEA Games record with a throw of 60.23 m.</li>
</ul>

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