Malaysia’s December is different this year for a reason that has nothing to do with what is scheduled. The 33rd SEA Games were played from 9 to 20 December 2025 and dominated the month; there is no SEA Games this December. Roughly half of last year’s attention has nowhere to go, and what absorbs it is badminton and a domestic title race that has not been competitive in a decade.

The Season Ends In Hangzhou

The BWF World Tour Finals run from 9 to 13 December in Hangzhou, restricted to the top eight in each discipline across the season. Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan go in as the strongest Malaysian entry: they won the Denmark Open in Odense, reached the French Open final six days later against Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto, and took the Indonesia Masters earlier in the year. Two consecutive World Tour finals inside a week is the form line that matters. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were chasing qualification from seventh in the men’s doubles standings.

Where To Watch

Badminton in Malaysia is on Astro and RTM, and the World Tour Finals are also carried on the BWF’s own streaming service in markets where no broadcaster has the rights. The Super League runs on Astro Arena and the national team’s friendlies in China are on the same platform. Operator streaming, where offered, is set out per country in the table at the end of this page.

The Super League Race

Johor Darul Ta’zim and Selangor have both won their opening six matches and stand level on 18 points. They meet on 23 December. A JDT fixture that is genuinely in doubt is an unfamiliar thing in Malaysian football — the club has dominated the competition for years — and a straight two-horse race going into the festive block is the first in a long time. The December date is the one that decides who leads into the new year.

November: Two Matches In Guangzhou

Harimau Malaya play China twice in Guangzhou, on 14 and 17 November. Both are Tier 1 friendlies, which matters more than friendlies usually do: the points feed into the ranking that determines seeding pots for the 2032 Asian Cup and 2030 World Cup qualifying draws. Competitive qualifying does not start until mid-2027, so these are the fixtures that shape the draw the country gets.

Two Names In The News This Week

Safawi Rasid. The winger has been recalled to the national squad after moving to Kuching City on loan from Kuala Lumpur City, and scored from the penalty spot in the 57th minute against Selangor on 8 November. The call-up came alongside a selection that surprised the domestic press for a different reason: JDT players were left out of the squad for the China trip.

Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan. The pair reached their second straight World Tour final at the French Open, six days after winning in Odense, and sit second in the women’s doubles qualification standings. For a country whose badminton results have been thin at the top of the men’s game, they are the entry most likely to produce a December title.

What To Expect

November is football abroad; December is badminton abroad and football at home. The one date that decides something domestically is 23 December, and the one that decides something internationally is the 13th, when the World Tour Finals end. Between them sits a month with no SEA Games in it for the first time in two years.