PUTRAJAYA − The Malaysian Canoe Association (Masca) have obtained the services of Hungarian coach Lazlo Toth in a bid to raise the performance level of the national athletes ahead of the Hanoi SEA Games from May 12-23.
The hiring of Lazlo, 54, who coached China from 2004 to 2011 and signed a contract with Masca yesterday, is seen as an effort to assess the national athletes’ ability to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Masca president Datuk Michael Wong Meng San said the Hungarian has proven himself by successfully guiding China to three gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and helped their men’s team secure seven gold medals at the 2011 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships in Iran.
Lazlo, who returned to coach Hungary after the Asian meet, then led his home country to another three gold medals at the Rio Olympics in 2016. He remained as the Hungary coach until 2018.
Michael, who also launched the Paris 24 programme, believes that Lazlo has the ability to guide the national canoeists − especially Khairul Naim Zainal − to victory in the SEA Games as well as to qualify for the Olympics.
“Besides handling the SEA Games and Asian Games squads, Lazlo is specifically tasked with helping Khairul Naim qualify for the Olympics. Masca and the NSC (National Sports Council) will give Khairul Naim all the assistance he needs in his participation in Hanoi as well as the Asiad in September.
“We have also discussed with Lazlo regarding the tournaments that we should compete in so as to be able to take part in the World Championships and Paris 2024. For now, his contract is only up to the SEA Games but we will re-evaluate it based on the achievements in Hanoi,” he said.
He said this at a media conference after the official signing ceremony and the launch of the Paris 24 programme at Kelab Tasik Putrajaya yesterday.
In a related development, Michael said Masca would only be sending four athletes to the Hanoi SEA Games with Khairul Naim making history by being the first national canoeist to be placed under Category A (fully funded by the NSC).
“Apart from the K1 1000m event, Khairul Naim will also pair up with Nik Afiq Nik Mazli for the K2 1000m. We also have another pair − Aimi Ayuni Azwan and Aisyah Harhanah Azwan − for the K2 500m and 1000m events,” he said.
Previously, Khairul Naim had broken the national record in the K1 1000m event at the 2019 World Canoe Sprint Championships in Hungary when he clocked four minutes and 4.509s before going on to erase that by clocking 4:02.596s at the World Canoe Sprint Championships in Portugal last July.
Meanwhile, Lazlo said that, for now, he would give his full attention to the SEA Games and ensure all the athletes are able to do their best.
“This year is very important as this time, we are going to work under this pandemic condition and the first one is the SEA Games. So, we have to focus on that first because it’s very important. Also, we will see (Malaysia’s chances) for silver and bronze,” he said. – Bernama, March 10, 2022
