SPORTS CALENDAR 2026: PLATFORMS FOR ELITE ATHLETES TO SHINE, JUNIORS TO BUILD REPUTATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 30 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is set to welcome 2026, packed with various prestigious sports events and championships, both at the international level and as a host, which are seen as capable of becoming an important platform in the continued development of the country's sports.

The 2026 sports calendar, among others, features a series of high-impact events throughout the year, including sports events, world-class individual championships as well as a stage for the development of junior athletes, which collectively form a path for real evaluation of national sports policies and planning.

At the global level, alpine skier Aruwin Idami Salehhuddin, who has confirmed her slot, will be representing the country at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy from Feb 6 to 22 with the aim of improving on her debut performance at the 2022 edition in Beijing, China.

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Malaysia is also expected to send athletes to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland from July 23 to August 2, as well as focus on the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games from September 19 to October 4 and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games from October 18 to 24.

In addition, the national badminton squad is expected to participate in the World Championships in New Delhi, India from August 17 to 23, where mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will defend their historic title won this season.

As hosts, Malaysia is scheduled to host the Malaysia Open badminton championship at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil here, from January 6 to 11, as well as the third round of the World Cup Track Championships from April 24 to 26 at the National Velodrome, Nilai.

Malaysia will also host the ASEAN University Games (AUG) scheduled to be held at five universities around the Klang Valley from Dec 10 to 19.

In aquatic sports, Malaysia will host the Asian Water Polo Championship (Under 18) and the 48th SEA Age Group Aquatic Championship at the National Aquatic Centre, Bukit Jalil.

On the domestic level, the Selangor 2026 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) is scheduled to be held from Aug 15 to 24, while the Para SUKMA from Sept 5 to 14 is expected to provide a major platform for local athletes to hone their talents and prepare for international games.

Local sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli said Malaysia's participation in various sports events next year, including the Asian Games, Asian Para Games and Commonwealth Games, is expected to strengthen the country's position and open up space for young athletes to showcase their talents on the highest stage.

"The success of our contingent at the 2026 Games can be a benchmark for our preparations to face the 2027 SEA Games as hosts.

"At the same time, we can see the emergence of individual national athletes who we can rely on to end the gold medal drought at the Los Angeles (LA) 2028 Olympic Games," he said when contacted by Bernama today.

Pekan said this involvement is also important for athlete development because it provides a platform to nurture young talent and accelerate the athlete transition cycle, thus creating more competitive competition at the regional and international levels.

"We hope to highlight more junior athletes who create success. We hope they mature quickly at the international level so that they are no longer overshadowed by senior athletes who have caused our sports cycle to have to wait quite a long time to produce a new national champion.

"This athlete transition cycle needs to happen quickly as a sign of the existence of very competitive competition in every sport and can indirectly close the performance gap between our athletes and the best athletes in the region, Asia and the world," he said.

He said a good transition cycle is the only way to produce champions at the Asian or world level at a young age or teenager as practised by China.

-- BERNAMA