PUTRAJAYA – The medal target for the national contingent to the 2023 SEA Games will be announced on April 30 at the flag-handing ceremony.
National Sports Council (NSC) athlete division director Jefri Ngadirin said the ceremony will be officiated by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
He also said that they will conduct a workshop on Thursday together with representatives of sports associations, coaches, and officials from NSC, National Sports Institute, and Olympic Council of Malaysia to evaluate the athletes’ current performance before setting the medal target.
“Before announcing the medal target, we will conduct a motivation session, team building, and a briefing on the Safe Sport Code, which will also involve coaches and team managers.
“There are 18 sports in which we have no strength or have never participated, so it is difficult for us to evaluate the performance of our athletes. Some sports will not be contested in Cambodia even though they were contested in Vietnam (2021). So this will also reduce our medal target.
“However, we are confident that our athletes will show their best performance to win medals for the country in sports usually organised in the SEA Games.
“Setting the medal target is not something we can take lightly. We need to evaluate all aspects before we set them,” he said after the Cambodia 2023 Torch Relay here today.
At the 2021 Hanoi SEA Games held in May last year, Malaysia finished sixth overall with 39 gold, 45 silver, and 90 bronze medals.
Diving was the biggest contributor to the country’s golds with eight medals, followed by athletics with five medals, while karate and gymnastics each brought home four golds.
Jefri added that they will be meeting the athletes for the last time before they depart for Cambodia on April 28-30. – The Vibes, April 11, 2023
