Page 246 - Westport Guide To Malaysia

238 THE SPORTING LIFE
league structure, with
two professional leagues (Malaysian Super League, Malaysian Premier League, 12 clubs each), a 3rd tier amateur and semi-pro league (Malaysian M3 League, 14 clubs) and a
4th tier comprising clubs from 19 regional leagues. The national men’s team is ranked 158th in the world and 32nd in Asia while the women’s team is ranked 88th in the world and 18th
in Asia.
Golf
(See page 252)
Gymnastics
Malaysian women also shine in the gymnasium and Farah Ann Abdul Hadi leads the way with
5 Southeast Asian Games gold medals and first
place in the uneven bars event in the 2019 Ukraine International Cup.
Hockey (Field)
After football, hockey is one of Malaysia’s more popular team sports, with the top players competing in the 8-team Premier Division of the Malaysia Hockey League. The national men’s team is ranked 12th in the world and 2nd in Asia, while the women’s team is ranked 21st in the world.
Horse Racing
(See page 307-309)
Martial Arts
Boxing remains popular
in Malaysia despite the emergence of other martial arts. The country’s most notable boxer is Sapok
Biki, who won the Light Flyweight gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Silat, a martial art originating from Indonesia and Malaysia, is a full- body fighting discipline incorporating strikes, grappling and throwing in addition to weaponry. It
is widely practised in the country and is growing in popularity worldwide. Malaysia ranks third of 23 countries in the list of all-time medal winners in the World Pencak Silat Championships.
Wushu is popular among Malaysian Chinese, and Malaysia is ranked 8th in the world, with 81 medals (including 17 golds)
from the World Wushu Championships since 1997. Muay Thai, historically
Artistic gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. She later won 3 Golds at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.