Malaysia’s Identity V squad take Asian Games bronze after Japanese sweep

Malaysia’s national Identity V line-up clinched the bronze medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games today despite a 2-0 semi-final loss to Japan at the Aichi Sky Expo.

Japan edge tense best-of-three

The best-of-three encounter opened with the Malaysians trailing 3-5 in round one. Captain Gan Hoon Ming and team-mates Yiau Wen Feng, Vincent Yii, Nicky Ho, Ng Wei Hao, George Chin and Cheah Euggee steadied themselves to force a 4-4 draw in the second round, but Japan’s line-up of Ryo Kamira, Yuto Awata, Masumi Konuma, Masahiro Uemura, Ryuhi Oyama, Kentaro Maeda and Masaki Uenaka accelerated in the decider, romping home 8-1 to seal the series.

The defeat leaves Malaysia with a podium finish on their first Asian Games appearance, while Japan move on to contest the gold medal match.

Captain reflects on a learning experience

Speaking to Bernama after the match, Hoon Ming admitted the result stung but stressed the positives:

“We actually had chances to beat them, but we did not perform very well. Japan are a very strong outfit and they fielded their best players.”

He called facing the Japanese “a valuable experience”, adding that when both teams were evenly matched “the game becomes very intense and too close to call.”

Today’s encounter was the sides’ third meeting; Malaysia now trail the head-to-head 1-2.

Despite missing out on the final, the skipper underlined his pride in delivering a medal for the country: “We are very happy to win a medal for Malaysia but, at the same time, we are disappointed because we felt like we could have done better.”

What’s next

Hoon Ming confirmed the squad will quickly turn their attention to the 2027 SEA Games, which Malaysia will host, declaring their intention “to do better next time” and target the gold medal.