Malaysia team practices for Commonwealth Games
JAKARTA (JP): Malaysia will compete in the 19th SEA Games here but its sights are firmly set on the Commonwealth Games it will host next year.
More than 570 Malaysian athletes will stream into the capital city to stretch their muscles not only for medals but also call- ups for their national Commonwealth Games team.
Malaysia's preparations are already underway for the 16th Games, scheduled from Sept. 11 to Sept. 16 next year in Kuala Lumpur.
The SEA Games will serve as a stepping stone for Malaysia's medal-winning hopes in the Commonwealth Games because next week's Games will feature 11 of the 16 events to be held in September.
The sports on both programs are weightlifting, badminton, field hockey, track and field, shooting, swimming (including synchronized swimming and diving), squash, bowling, cycling, gymnastics and boxing.
Malaysia is concentrating on these 11 sports, although it will have representatives in all 34 events at the SEA Games. It hopes to bring home some 50 gold medals from the biennial event which kicks off on Oct. 11 and finishes on Oct. 19.
The Malaysian Olympic Council (MOC) had previously set a target of 61 golds but then reevaluated the tally. The council said the latest target was more reasonable after the country managed only 31 golds in the 18th Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Some Malaysian sports figures were quoted by Kompas as saying that the 61-gold bid was intended to encourage sports bodies and athletes to working harder.
Malaysia notched up its best medal haul ever -- 67 golds in 1989 -- when it hosted the Games in Kuala Lumpur.
The MOC has predicted that most of the laurels would come from track and field (12), bowling (12), sepak takraw (2), badminton (1), swimming (4), cycling (2), squash (4), hockey (1), gymnastics (3), bodybuilding (1), women's soccer (1), water skiing (2), snooker (2) and 14 from four martial arts events -- karate (4), taekwondo (4), pencak silat (4 ) and wushu (2).
Some national sports associations have set even higher targets than those touted by the MOC.
Chinese runner
The Malaysian Amateur Athletics (MAAU) is poised to surpass the MOC's ceiling by two golds, thanks, in part, to the presence of former Chinese women's middle-distance runner Yuan Yu Fang.
Yuan, donning Malaysian colors for the first time, will be a real menace to Indonesia's defense title bid in the 1,500-meter, 5,000m and 10,000m races.
She holds the Malaysian national record of 16:33.80 in the 5,000m which she set in the Malaysia Open Championship early this year. Her time was slightly better than Indonesia's best hope Supriyati.
Other track and field golds are expected to come from men's javelin thrower Yazid Imran, men's high jumper Lao Kum Kee, veteran men's 110m runner Nur Herman Madjid, M. Ramachandran who will run in the men's 5,000m and 10,000m events, hammer thrower Wang Tee Kue and women's walker Anastasia Karen.
MOC president Datuk Khalid Yunus predicted that his 30-strong track and field team would excel here, due to the help of more than a dozen foreign coaches, including Russia's Oleg Dimitroshenkov (javelin and hammer), China's Wang Lin (road walk), Bulgarian Pavel Litkhovcentko (middle- and long-distance run), Canadian Daniel Hilleny (sprint) and Germany's Uwe Freymont (high jump).
The SEA Games hockey competition will see Malaysia expand its total control of the event. There is no doubt that the 1994 world champion will sweep up the two golds on offer.
National men's team coach Volker Knapp said he recruited three players from German Bundesliga -- Limburg's S. Kuhan, Kerpal Singh and Frankfurt Safo's R. Shankar -- for his 16-strong team for the Games.
But Malaysia will not parade its stars in badminton. With Olympic men's singles bronze medalist Rashid Sidek and Olympic men's doubles silver medalist Yap Kim Hock ruled out due to injuries, Danish coach Morten Frost Hansen will rely heavily on the three musketeers Ong Ewe Hock, Yong Hock Kin, and Jason Wong. (08)