Time for experienced athletes to deliver, says NSC DG
The biennial games has in the past been used as a platform to give young athletes exposure at the international level, that, however, will not be the case this time said NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin.
Malaysia is expected to send a contingent of roughly 900 athletes to compete in 50 sports in Thailand.
"Many of the athletes we had targeted (for the games) have met the category A criteria. I believe we are in a good position to be competitive at the Sea Games," said Jefri recently.
"The Sea Games this time is not about providing competitive exposure to new athletes. The athletes selected have all earned their place in the contingent on merit.
"It is true what Tan Sri Norza Zakaria has said. (Younger) athletes who competed in Hanoi and Phnom Penh have now qualified under category A and it is time for them to win medals at the Sea Games (this year) before we host the 2027 Malaysia Sea Games."
Earlier this week, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria said the focus for the 2027 games is on "performance" as athletes given exposure during the 2021 Hanoi and 2023 Phnom Penh games have now "matured".
Athletes must achieve a score or time that equals or betters the top-three finishers from the previous edition of the Sea Games to qualify for category A. Category A athlete's competition costs - not to be confused with preparation costs - are borne by the government.
Category B athletes, who have to meet top-six times or scores from the previous games, pay out of their own pockets to compete at the games but will be reimbursed if they win a medal.
The decision to send top athletes makes sense as Malaysia suffered its worst-ever performance in the history of the games during the 2023 Phnom Penh edition when the national contingent failed to achieve the 40-gold target set for them and finished a lowly seventh overall on 34 gold, 45 silver and 96 bronzes.
The national bodies of sports such as badminton and cycling have already made it clear they will be sending their 'A teams' to the games, which was not always the case in the past.
Malaysia is expected to win more gold medals this time as a number of favoured sports such as track cycling, tenpin bowling, squash and waterskiing have been reincluded this year.
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