Latest news with #PhnomPenhGames
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Sports analyst says Malaysia show no clear progress in key Olympic sports
KUALA LUMPUR: With the Thailand SEA Games fast approaching (Dec 9-20), Malaysia have yet to show clear improvement in key Olympic sports such as athletics and swimming — both of which fell well short of expectations at the 2023 Phnom Penh edition. That is the view of sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli, speaking on the latest Timesport: On The Beat podcast. Swimming and athletics each offer almost 50 gold medals per SEA Games. Malaysia managed just one gold in swimming and five in athletics in Phnom Penh. "Frankly, I do not see much progress in swimming after what was our worst-ever performance at the 2023 Games," said Pekan. "We are still relying heavily on Khiew Hoe Yean for gold, while other swimmers have yet to shine. "This is a concern, especially with Singapore and Vietnam being strong, and Thailand and Indonesia ramping up talent development in swimming." He was equally worried about athletics, a sport Malaysia once dominated at SEA Games level. "We have only won five golds in the last two editions, when we should be getting at least seven or eight," he said. "Most of our recent golds have come from field events. Hopefully, Azeem Fahmi can come back from the US to race for us, but even then there's no guarantee he'll win the 100m — Thailand's Puripol Boonson is very consistent, and Lalu Zohri (Indonesia) has recovered from injury. "We were lucky to have Umar Osman (400m) emerge and win gold last time, but apart from him I don't see new track talents making a mark." Malaysia Athletics had set a 10-gold target for Phnom Penh but fell well short. Swimming's decline has been stark — just one gold at both the 2021 Hanoi and 2023 Phnom Penh Games, each through Hoe Yean. Malaysia Aquatics, under new management since 2023, has revamped the national programme but say it could take a decade to bear fruit. The national contingent also suffered their worst overall SEA Games showing in Phnom Penh, finishing seventh in the medal table with 34 golds, 45 silvers and 96 bronzes — well below the 40-gold target. There is hope for better returns in Thailand, with tenpin bowling, track cycling, water skiing and squash — all traditionally strong Malaysian sports — back on the programme.
New Straits Times
18-06-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
NSC expecting to send up to 700 athletes to Thailand Sea Games
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Sports Council is expecting to come up with a shortlist of athletes to be registered for the Thailand Sea Games by September. NSC director-general Jefri Ngadirin said preparations for the games are well underway for athletes under NSC's full-time programme. The biennial games will be held across Bangkok, Chonburi and Songkhla on Dec 9-20. "We recently had a Sea Games preparation coordination meeting together with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the National Sports Institute," said Jefri yesterday (June 17). "We presented our preparation programme for our athletes, involving 43 sports (under NSC), while NSI also presented the support services they intend to prepare for the games. "We are currently in the process of identifying athletes for the registration long list and hope to have a shortlist by September. "There will be 50 sports contested in Thailand and we will be competing in 48 of them. We expect to send between 600 to 700 athletes to the games. "We have also requested that OCM appoints a chef de mission and deputy chef de mission as well as team managers soon so we can coordinate our preparations at the national sports association level." By comparison, Malaysia sent 677 athletes to compete at the 2023 Phnom Penh Games, 584 at Hanoi 2021 (held in 2022 due to Covid-19) and 773 at Manila 2019. Jefri added that efforts have been made over the past two years to "transform" sports that had underperformed at previous editions of the Sea Games, such as swimming. "We have done a lot of transformation in swimming. This includes the appointment of a technical director as well as new foreign coaches for the senior and backup squads," said Jefri. Malaysian swimming has suffered slow but steady decline at the Sea Games level for over a decade now. The swimming squad has not been able to win more than one gold medal at the last two editions of the games.
