KUALA LUMPUR – Within the context of national sports, the year 2021 is still affected by sanctions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic which is still plaguing the world.
But hope glimmered when Malaysia started the National Covid-19 Immunisation Program and little by little sports and leisure activities began to be allowed.
This means our national athletes were allowed to retrain for this year’s biggest international tournament and sporting event, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Getaran recalls some of the glorious and unfortunate moments of national sports for this year.
Lee Zii Jia All England Champion
Not many had expected the country’s badminton singles prodigy to produce a surprise at the prestigious tournament in March in Birmingham, England.
That, however, did not dampen the Kedah-born athlete’s spirit to take home the country’s first All England crown since 2017 when it was won by Datuk Lee Chong Wei.
Zii Jia displayed high fighting spirit in a fierce three-set match to defeat Victor Axelsen 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in 74 minutes.
Although the end of Zii Jia’s season was overshadowed by poor performances and injuries, his success in England gave a new ray of hope to the country’s badminton fans.
KL City FC Malaysia Cup Champions
There is little difference with regards to this year’s Malaysian football competition.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) remained superior in the Super League competition, grabbing the eighth consecutive crown with a difference of 14 points to the second-placed team.
At the international level, Harimau Malaya continued to disappoint after being eliminated in the AFF Cup group stage earlier this month.
But the Malaysia Cup scene was a different story.
KL City is seen as an underdog team, which will likely provide competition for defending champions JDT but is clearly not difficult to tame.
After a first half which was dominated by the team from the south, many thought that KL City would concede goals in the second half.
But Bojan Hodak’s men started the second half fiercely and ultimately scored two goals to end the club’s 32 -year wait to lift the Malaysia Cup.
Azizulhasni Awang’s Acceleration Is Only Enough For Silver
Before the Tokyo 2020 Games began, The Pocket Rocketman was seen as an athlete that can end Malaysia’s gold drought in the Olympics.
The athlete from Dungun, Terengganu did not face any huge difficulty to qualify for the final round of his favourite event Keirin.
But when the finals began, a tactical error from Australian Matthew Glaetzer that let British rider Jason Kenny accelerate unchallenged forced Azizulhasni to be content with only a silver medal.
Coupled with the bronze medals of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the men’s doubles badminton event, Malaysia matched the medal tally of the 1996 Atlanta and London 2012 games.
Para Athletes Continue to Shine Gold
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Malaysia took home three gold and two silver medals.
Abdul Latif Romly defended his gold in the T20 Long Jump event, while Bonnie Bunyau Gustin and Cheah Liek Hou took home gold in their first Paralympics appearance, through the men’s 72kg powerlifting event and SU5 men’s singles badminton.
Jong Yee Khie and Chew Wei Lun took home silver in the men’s 107kg powerlifting event and the BC1 mixed individual boccia.
Bonnie also maintained his excellent performance after defending his world championship in Tbilisi, Georgia earlier this month.
Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli’s Gold Cancelled
Amidst the glory that Malaysia enjoyed in Tokyo, a controversy arose involving the defending champion of the men’s shot put F20 event.
Malaysians were already celebrating after Ziyad successfully defended the gold he won in Rio 2016 and broke his own world record.
But the excitement stopped when news came that the Selangor-born athlete was disqualified.
Ziyad was said to be late to the “call room” but the organisers allowed him to continue contesting while investigation was being carried out.
The 2017 world champion status was later changed to “did not start” and his gold medal had to be returned.
The gold medal was later awarded to Ukrainian athlete Maksym Koval, and Malaysia’s appeal was later rejected.
A committee set up to investigate the incident concluded that the athlete was proven to be late to the “call room” and the country truly missed out on a valuable gold medal. - Getaran, December 30, 2021
