MAD TARGETING GOLD AS HOST OF 2026 WORLD DODGEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Dodgeball Association (MAD) has urged the national squad to take full advantage of Malaysia playing as hosts at the Dodgeball World Championship scheduled to be held in November next year.

MAD president Datuk V. Radhakrishnan, who confirmed this, said that although the championship will see fierce competition from the world's best teams, it will still be the best stage for Malaysia to repeat its achievement of becoming world champions in the 2022 edition.

"There is no (specific) target yet, but as the hosts, our target must be to win gold. We once won the World Championship in 2022. But the competition is getting stronger because many countries are now stepping up and training hard.

"Next year's World Championship, which is expected to be attended by 80 to 90 countries, will involve around 1,800 participants. This is a positive development for Malaysia because we are among the world's dodgeball superpowers and are now among the top three in the world," he said yesterday.

The last time Malaysia emerged as world champions was in 2022, which saw the national men's dodgeball team defeat Australia (10-5) in the final in Edmonton, Canada.

Looking at the current development of dodgeball which is increasingly gaining popularity in various countries, Radhakrishnan also has high hopes for the sport to be competed in major events including the upcoming Olympic Games.

"My hope is that one day dodgeball will be a competitive sport in the SEA Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games. Currently, Saudi Arabia will bid to host the next Olympics and we hope that dodgeball can be included in the 2036 Olympics," he said.

In a similar development, Radhakrishnan was satisfied with the achievements of the national dodgeball squad at the 2025 Asian Dodgeball Championship which ended yesterday, with Malaysia finishing as overall champion after collecting three gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

-- BERNAMA