KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian contingent are gearing up for the coming Hangzhou Asian Games and have set a target of 27 medals.
However, unlike in the past, they have decided not to specify the colour of the medals.
Jefri Ngadirin, who heads the National Sports Council’s (NSC) athlete division, said the decision was made through discussions with key stakeholders, including the contingent’s chef de mission, team managers, representatives from the Olympic Council of Malaysia, national sports associations, the NSC, and the National Sports Institute.
The NSC also received expert input from Japan’s Nippon Sports Science University.
“The choice to avoid setting explicit gold medal targets aligns with a growing trend observed in several countries,” said Jefri.
“In the Southeast Asian region, countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines have also refrained from specifying gold medal objectives for their athletes.”
He added the rationale behind this approach is to allow the athletes to focus on delivering their best performance without the added pressure of chasing a particular colour of medal.
He also said the committee also had to consider the sports not being contested in this year’s edition – namely bowling and silat, where Malaysia achieved two gold, six silver, and four bronze medals at the 2018 Games.
“We believe that all the selected athletes are more than capable of clinching medals, given their relentless dedication and four years of rigorous training since the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang.
“This trend is not unique to Malaysia… Australia and Japan also omitted gold medal targets during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a strategy that ultimately paid off.
“It is important to trust the athletes to perform at their best without the burden of unrealistic expectations,” Jefri said.
He was speaking when met after the flag handover ceremony, by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, for the Malaysian contingent heading to Hangzhou for the Asian Games and Para Asian Games.
Also present at the event were Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, chef de mission Datuk Chong Kim Fatt, NSC director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, and Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
The Malaysian contingent to the Asian Games consists of 289 athletes and 145 officials.
The athletes will participate in 22 of the 40 types of sports that will be contested, involving 121 sports events out of 481 in total.
Jefri added that the contingent expected to win medals in diving, badminton, track cycling, equestrian, field hockey, karate, archery, athletics, sailing, sepak takraw, squash, wushu and e-sports.
Malaysia secured 36 medals at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. — September 11, 2023