Top 10 Malaysian Sports Heroes of All Time

The greatest female squash player of all time, Penang-born Nicol David held the World Number One ranking for an unprecedented 108 consecutive months between 2006 and 2015, winning the World Open a record eight times and redefining what was possible for Malaysian female athletes on the global stage. She was named the greatest squash player — male or female — of the 21st century by a panel of international experts in 2019.

The 1992 Thomas Cup-winning generation of Malaysian badminton — Rashid Sidek, Jalani Sidek, Razif Sidek, and Foo Kok Keong — represent the high watermark of Malaysian badminton team achievement, a squad that played with an intensity and tactical sophistication that has never quite been recaptured in subsequent decades.

Sarawak's diving queen, Pandelela Rinong won Malaysia's first-ever Olympic diving medal at the 2012 London Games and has maintained her position as Southeast Asia's dominant springboard and platform diver across four Olympic cycles. Her performances have inspired a generation of Malaysian diving talent and transformed diving into one of the country's most competitive sports.

Malaysia's Queen of Bowling, Shalin Zulkifli is the most decorated ten-pin bowler in Malaysian history — a multi-time World Bowling Federation champion and Asian Games gold medallist who held the World Number One ranking for over a decade and made bowling one of Malaysia's most consistently medal-productive sports at international level.

Known as the "Pocket Rocketman" for his explosive sprint on the velodrome track, Azizulhasni Awang became the first Malaysian to win a World Cycling Championship medal in 2012 and followed it with World Championship gold in the Keirin event — putting Malaysian cycling on a world map where it had never previously appeared. His 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze was celebrated as a national milestone.

A world-class badminton singles player of the late 2000s and early 2010s, Hafizh Hashim's aggressive baseline game and exceptional net skills earned him a World Championship bronze medal and victories over every top player of his generation, providing a crucial link between the Lee Chong Wei era and the emerging new wave of Malaysian singles talent.

A pioneering Malaysian track cyclist who became the first Malaysian to win the Keirin event at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup series, Josiah Ng opened the doors for Malaysia's current elite cycling programme and mentored the generation of riders that includes Azizulhasni Awang. He is recognised as the founding father of Malaysian competitive cycling.

A legendary Malaysian snooker player who won the Malaysian national title multiple times and competed at the highest levels of international snooker during the sport's global expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, Shamsul's success inspired a generation of Malaysian cue sports talent and established snooker as a mainstream participatory sport in the country.

The most accomplished Malaysian gymnast of the modern era, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi won six gold medals at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore and consistently performs at a level that puts her among the top artistic gymnasts in Asia. Her performances have elevated gymnastics from a minority sport in Malaysia to one of the country's most watched at multi-sport games.

The greatest female squash player of all time, Penang-born Nicol David held the World Number One ranking for an unprecedented 108 consecutive months between 2006 and 2015, winning the World Open a record eight times and redefining what was possible for Malaysian female athletes on the global stage. She was named the greatest squash player — male or female — of the 21st century by a panel of international experts in 2019.

The 1992 Thomas Cup-winning generation of Malaysian badminton — Rashid Sidek, Jalani Sidek, Razif Sidek, and Foo Kok Keong — represent the high watermark of Malaysian badminton team achievement, a squad that played with an intensity and tactical sophistication that has never quite been recaptured in subsequent decades.

Sarawak's diving queen, Pandelela Rinong won Malaysia's first-ever Olympic diving medal at the 2012 London Games and has maintained her position as Southeast Asia's dominant springboard and platform diver across four Olympic cycles. Her performances have inspired a generation of Malaysian diving talent and transformed diving into one of the country's most competitive sports.

Malaysia's Queen of Bowling, Shalin Zulkifli is the most decorated ten-pin bowler in Malaysian history — a multi-time World Bowling Federation champion and Asian Games gold medallist who held the World Number One ranking for over a decade and made bowling one of Malaysia's most consistently medal-productive sports at international level.

Known as the "Pocket Rocketman" for his explosive sprint on the velodrome track, Azizulhasni Awang became the first Malaysian to win a World Cycling Championship medal in 2012 and followed it with World Championship gold in the Keirin event — putting Malaysian cycling on a world map where it had never previously appeared. His 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze was celebrated as a national milestone.

A world-class badminton singles player of the late 2000s and early 2010s, Hafizh Hashim's aggressive baseline game and exceptional net skills earned him a World Championship bronze medal and victories over every top player of his generation, providing a crucial link between the Lee Chong Wei era and the emerging new wave of Malaysian singles talent.

A pioneering Malaysian track cyclist who became the first Malaysian to win the Keirin event at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup series, Josiah Ng opened the doors for Malaysia's current elite cycling programme and mentored the generation of riders that includes Azizulhasni Awang. He is recognised as the founding father of Malaysian competitive cycling.

A legendary Malaysian snooker player who won the Malaysian national title multiple times and competed at the highest levels of international snooker during the sport's global expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, Shamsul's success inspired a generation of Malaysian cue sports talent and established snooker as a mainstream participatory sport in the country.

The most accomplished Malaysian gymnast of the modern era, Farah Ann Abdul Hadi won six gold medals at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games in Singapore and consistently performs at a level that puts her among the top artistic gymnasts in Asia. Her performances have elevated gymnastics from a minority sport in Malaysia to one of the country's most watched at multi-sport games.