KUALA LUMPUR: The national contingent are targeting 40 gold, 37 silver and 64 bronze medals at the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, from May 5 to 17, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
Hannah, who announced this during the ceremony to hand over the Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian contingent at the National Sports Council (NSC) here, described it as a realistic target.
She, however, believes that the national contingent of 677 athletes, with 440 or 65 per cent of them making their debut at the biennial Games, can rake in more than the targeted number of medals.
“We are announcing this target after having carried several engagement sessions and collected the latest date on the capabilities of athletes from other competing countries.
“Also taken into account is the decision by the host nation (Cambodia) not to list 57 events contested at the Hanoi SEA Games in Vietnam last year, which resulted in Malaysia potentially losing 18 golds, 16 silvers and 30 bronzes,” she told reporters, here, yesterday.
According to Hannah, the Malaysian contingent this time will only be competing in 33 of the 36 types of sports to be contested in Cambodia.
She said that from the total, Malaysia will be taking part in 340 events, which is 58.42 per cent of the 582 events being contested.
She added that the 40-gold target is more of a priority compared to ending the Games as the top five countries overall.
“For us to achieve the target set is something good. When we go there and they decide not to list several events, it is not realistic for us to say that we want to finish among the top five, four or three. That is not our focus,” she said.
Meanwhile, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria gave his backing for the medal target set for the biennial Games.
“I praise the action of our sports associations is being brave to send their backup athletes this time.
“Previously, we took the safe path by sending the same athletes to the SEA Games (and) Olympics, but due to the stipulated Under-23 age limit (under Category B) to compete in the SEA Games, we decided to send mostly young athletes, who will be guided by the seniors,” he said.
In the 31st edition of the Games in Hanoi last year, Malaysia came in sixth overall with a 39-45-90 medal haul. – BERNAMA
