KUALA LUMPUR – The head of the Malaysian contingent to the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad, believes that the national contingent is capable of achieving more gold medals than what was initially projected.
Nur Azmi said the initial target of 31 gold medals set previously is adequate, but personally he felt that more could be won.
He said the final number would only be known after he conducted a meeting with team managers and coaches at the workshop to determine the final medal target scheduled for April 13.
“Maybe more (gold medals), we will conduct the workshop and decide then. For me, 31 gold medals are okay but if we go according to the expenses spent, it isn’t enough,” he said at a media conference after chairing the 31st SEA Games Team Managers meeting here today.
He was replying a question by the media regarding a statement Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker made about the initial medal target at a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
According to Ti, the earlier target set together with the national sports associations was 79 medals overall, 31 gold, 19 silver and 29 bronze, based on current development and the current performance of athletes.
At the 2019 SEA Games in Manila, the Philippines, the Malaysian contingent fell short of their target of 70 gold, 51 silver and 105 bronze medals, managing to collect only 56 gold, 57 silver and 72 bronze. Malaysia ended in fifth place overall, instead of the targeted fourth position. The host became champions, followed by Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia in fourth place.
Nur Azmi also said that the Hanoi SEA games, which will take place from May 12 to 23, will serve as one of the qualifying championships for national athletes to book a place in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games in July and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled in September.
“To me, this is also a guideline of sports associations, the key performance index (KPI) would also be taken into account for athletes to qualify for Category A to the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, besides the upcoming SEA Games (in Hanoi),” he said.
He added that currently, Malaysia was the fourth largest contingent for the Hanoi Games with a total of 883 individuals, 604 athletes and 279 officials. – Bernama, April 2, 2022
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