Without Its Badminton Crown Jewel, Malaysia Faces A Different Glasgow 2026

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 (Bernama) -- Every nation has a sport that helps define its identity.
For Jamaica, it is sprinting. New Zealand is synonymous with rugby, while cricket has long been a source of national pride in India.

For Malaysia, particularly on the Commonwealth Games stage, that sport has always been badminton.

For nearly six decades, badminton has been more than just Malaysia's biggest medal contributor at the Commonwealth Games. With 31 gold medals to date, it has become the nation's trusted medal anchor, setting the tone for every campaign before attention shifts to sports such as weightlifting, lawn bowls, diving and squash.

That familiar script, however, will change at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, with badminton omitted from the programme for the first time in Malaysia's history.

Badminton's absence represents far more than the loss of another medal event. It also removes the sport that has long formed the backbone of Malaysia's Commonwealth Games campaign.

Such is badminton's significance to Malaysia that the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) had even offered to host the badminton competition separately in Kuala Lumpur in a bid to retain the sport on the Glasgow 2026 programme. The proposal, however, did not materialise.

To appreciate the magnitude of its absence, one need only look back at Malaysia's rich history in the sport.

From the era of Tan Aik Huang and the late Punch Gunalan, through the Sidek brothers and Lee Chong Wei, to today's generation of shuttlers, the badminton court has consistently been where Malaysians have celebrated some of the country's finest Commonwealth Games moments.

It is no exaggeration to say that badminton has become part of Malaysia's Commonwealth Games identity.

The impact of badminton's absence extends well beyond the medal tally.

For years, the sport has provided the Malaysian contingent with an invaluable source of confidence whenever the Commonwealth Games came around.

Every campaign began with genuine hopes of gold from the badminton court, and those early successes often generated momentum that inspired athletes from other sports to raise their own performances.

In many ways, badminton served as the spark that ignited Malaysia's overall campaign.

Without that familiar source of inspiration, the contingent must now look elsewhere to fill the void.

At the same time, badminton's absence raises a broader question about Malaysian sport.

Has the country become too reliant on a handful of traditional sports to deliver success on the international stage?

It is hardly a new debate, having resurfaced whenever Malaysia endured disappointing performances at major multi-sport Games.

Glasgow 2026, however, could provide the clearest opportunity yet to determine whether other sports are ready to step out of badminton's shadow.
Should Malaysia remain competitive, it would suggest that efforts to broaden the country's sporting base are beginning to bear fruit.

Conversely, if the gap proves too wide, it may indicate that more work is needed to reduce Malaysia's reliance on a handful of traditional medal-winning sports.

For some athletes, Glasgow 2026 could also represent the biggest opportunity of their careers to emerge as the new faces of Malaysian sport, with badminton no longer dominating the spotlight.

When the Games draw to a close, the most important question may not be how many medals Malaysia has won, but whether the nation has found new pillars to sustain its Commonwealth ambitions.

The Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held from July 23 to Aug 2, with Malaysia represented by 59 athletes, including para athletes, competing in eight of the 10 sports on the programme, alongside six integrated para sports.

Malaysia won seven gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals at Birmingham 2022. However, the challenge is expected to be far tougher this time, with four of those seven gold medals having come from sports that are no longer on the Glasgow programme.

One thing, however, is certain. For the first time in decades, Malaysia heads to the Commonwealth Games without the sport that has delivered its greatest success. And when the ‘king’ is absent, Glasgow 2026 may well provide the stage for a new generation of heroes to emerge.
-- BERNAMA