KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian para contingent claimed two gold, two silver and one bronze medals at the Paris Paralympics in September, which was a slight decline compared to the three gold and two silver haul from Tokyo 2020.
This came about after Ziyad Zolkefli (shot put F20) and Latif Romly (long jump T20), who both won gold at the Kobe World Championships in May, could only get silver at the Paris Paralympics after being upstaged by younger opponents.
The cheer for the nation was provided by Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who successfully defended his powerlifting under-72kg gold in Paris with a new world record.
Bonnie basked in another all-conquering season, which also saw him bagging gold at the World Cup in Dubai (March).
Another Malaysian who retained his Paralympic gold (singles SU5) from Tokyo in Paris was shuttler Cheah Liek Hou.
This year, long jumper (T37) Nazmi Nasir marked his arrival at international level by winning the World Championship gold in Kobe. At 21, he is emerging as a star for Malaysia.
ATHLETICS
Shereen Samson Vallabouy and Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, both bronze medallists at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, continued their strong run this season.
Zaidatul erased G. Shanti's 31-year-old 100m national record (11.50s) after clocking 11.49s at the Perlis Open in October. Shereen broke her own national 400m record (51.80s) after clocking 51.79s in a meet in Nashville, Tennessee, in June.
Malaysia's fastest man, Azeem Fahmi, who is also based in the United States, made his Olympic debut in Paris, but failed to shine. His 10.42s in the preliminaries was way off his 10.09s national record.
MOTORSPORTS
With no representatives in the MotoGP World Championships this season, all eyes were on Hakim Danish Ramli, who has long been touted as the nation's next great hope on two wheels.
Hakim did show improvement, finishing a decent mid-table 15th in the FIM JuniorGP World Championships this season.
But he was more impressive in the Red Bull Rookies Cup series, where he placed sixth overall with three podium finishes, including a race win at Aragon in August.
The 17-year-old is only expected to make the step up to the Moto3 World Championship in 2026.
RUGBY
There were no surprises as Malaysia once again finished last of four teams in the Asia Championship top-tier competition in June.
Malaysia lost 62-19 to the United Arab Emirates, 55-5 to South Korea and 70-6 to Hong Kong who went on to retain their Asian title.
The Bunga Raya squad are expected to face Division One winners Sri Lanka in a relegation-cum-promotional playoff in the second quarter of next year.
On the domestic front, Police retained their Agong's Cup title in October with former national star K. Dinesvaran as their head coach. It was their fifth Agong's Cup title (1983, 1985, 1991, 2023 and 2024).
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
Rising star Johan Ghazali Zulfikar (flyweight) had a slow year with only two fights as he was also focusing on preparing for his SPM examinations.
His first fight of the year, however, saw his undefeated record in the ONE Championship coming to an end after losing to Vietnam's Nguyen Tran Duy Nhat via unanimous decision in Bangkok in June.
But the 18-year-old bounced back to beat Mexican Josue Cruz with a first round knockout in Denver, the United States in September. He will face Colombian Johan Estupinan in Bangkok next month.
DANCESPORT
Malaysian dancers had a great year, showing notable performances at international level.
At the London Open in September, Cherry Yeo sashayed her way to the Adult Female Solo Latin category title, while Madeleine Lau triumphed in the Youth Female Solo Latin event. Zurie Ooi also did well to reach the final in the Adult Female Solo Latin class.
Cherry also finished fourth at the Sarajevo Dance Festival in December, where Ooi Ken Vin-Zoe Tan claimed bronze in the Rising Star Latin event.