KUALA LUMPUR – National athletes aged 23 and above will have to pass the Category A requirements if they wish to represent the country at the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games.
This was announced by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, who said only athletes below 23 will be considered for Category B.
For Category A, costs are fully borne while Category B costs need to be refunded if a medal is won. He said that the criteria for both categories remains the same as that used for the 2022 Vietnam SEA Games.
Category A athletes need to be in the top three SEA rankings and top four for team events, while Category B athletes need to be in the top six rankings.
“Young athletes who have performed well at the recent Malaysia Games (Sukma) will be given priority to be listed under Category B as part of their preparations for the 2025 Bangkok and 2027 Malaysia SEA Games.
“The SEA Games is a developmental platform for these young athletes, we have been saying this from the very beginning.
“We need to send young athletes so they are exposed to international level games, this is not the Commonwealth Games or Asian Games or Olympics,” he said today after the OCM Selection Committee Meeting at Wisma OCM.
Norza said this is a chance for national sports associations to send their rising athletes based on the Sukma results, to ensure that the associations have backup talents at the international level.
“When we send young athletes, surely they can’t deliver results straight away. But the exposure is important.”
Norza, who is also Badminton Association of Malaysia president (BAM), said the national body has given opportunities to players as young as 16 and 17 during the Hanoi SEA Games in May.
BAM was forced to do so as the Hanoi SEA Games overlapped with the Thomas and Uber Cup.
Meanwhile, he said several events Malaysia won gold in Vietnam won’t be contested in Cambodia, and the contingent is expected to lose roughly 12 gold, 9 silver, and 24 bronze medals when compared to the 39 gold, 45 silver, and 90 bronze won in Hanoi.
“There were eight diving events, now there are only 4. We won two gold medals for archery in Vietnam, but there are no archery events in Cambodia. We will also miss out on the two gold in shooting we got as there will be no shooting events next year.
“For gymnastics, there were 14 events in Vietnam, but only eight in Cambodia, the two golds we won won’t be completed next year. Same goes for the two golds in rhythmic gymnastics, there will be none,” he added.
The 32nd SEA Games edition will be held next year in Cambodia from May 5 to 17. – The Vibes, October 11, 2022
