'Malaysia's 70-gold target at SEA Games realistic'

BANGI: Malaysia have set a realistic target of 70 gold medals for the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines based on the achievements of the national athletes and their potential opponents.

Malaysia’s chef de mission for the games, Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin (pic), said the target was set after a thorough review of the 396 national athletes who would be making their debut at the biennial games.

“True, the target is only two gold medals more compared to the Games at Korat in 2007. Despite the increase in athlete participation, we have to note that many athletes are competing at an international meet for the first time.

“I must admit that we have the potential to win more gold medals, but many athletes competing in the Philippines are new. We don’t know how good the opponents are in certain sports,” he said after a ceremony to hand over the national flag to the Malaysian contingent to the 2019 SEA Games here, Thursday.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Sabah revenue hits RM6.97 billion: Hajiji says GRS State Government may see full term

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Government continued its momentum in managing the economy in line with the commitment and spirit of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) when it posted record high state revenue of RM6.973 billion last year.

Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman announced the target of 70 gold, 51 silver and 105 bronze medals for the national contingent, comprising 773 athletes who will compete in 52 of the 56 sports at the games.

The 70-gold medal target is expected to put Malaysia in the top four of the 11 Southeast Asian nations.

Syed Saddiq also said athletics, gymnastics, archery and lawn bowl are expected to be major contributors to the nation’s gold medal haul.

Asked on the status of athletics as the main contributor of gold medals given the athletes’ poor performances this season, Megat Zulkarnain said: “Athletics is expected to contribute medals to Malaysia. We look at their achievements before setting any goals. We call team managers and coaches to spell out their athletes’ achievements.

Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.

Daily Express Malaysia

“We asked for a review on each athlete. Likewise, we study the achievements of our opponents. Not everything that we discussed was agreed upon. So the decision to rely on athletics as a medal contributor was not made without a full review,” he said.

Megat Zulkarnain, however, said that although certain sports have been targeted to bring in the medals, other sports such as bowling and squash are also seen as having huge medal potential. – Bernama

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00