Door still open for them
THE Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) have left the door open for athletes excluded from the 2019 Sea Games programme.
Only 28 athletes have been identified for the next Sea Games in the Philippines whose training and competition expenses will be borne by the National Sports Council (NSC) or the National Sports Institute (NSI).
Sprinters Siti Fatima Mohamad and S. Komalam Shally are among the biggest names missing from the list after failing to meet the programme’s criteria.
However, national chief coach Zainal Abas said MAF will monitor performances of athletes outside the programme for inclusion in the future.
“Athletes who won gold and silver at the Sea Games are automatically included for training and exposure in the 2019 Sea G a m e s p r ogramme,” said Zainal after meeting with NSI chief executive Dr Mohd Khairi Zawi, NSC athlete division acting director Jefri Ngadirin and Olympic Council of Malaysia secretarygeneral Datuk Low Beng Choo in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
“Fatimah and Komalam are not included because they did not meet the criteria. Komalam’s own performance is below that of the (Sea Games) silver medalist in the 100m.
“But these athletes can still be included in the future because the programme has a long way to go. If they can perform during the year, we will monitor and evaluate them for inclusion.
“So any athlete out there, for example if someone can run 10.2 or 10.3 seconds in the 100m, we will consider them for inclusion in the programme.
“It does not mean that if you are not in the list now, you can’t be in the programme later on. The door is always open and an athlete can come in at any time.”
The list of 28 athletes includes five from the Podium Programme — high jumper Nauraj Singh Randhawa, discus thrower Irfan Shamshuddin, triple jumper Hakimi Ismail, para shot putter Ziyad Zolkefli and para long jumper Latif Romly.
Zainal added that young athletes such as 400m runner Shereen Samson Vallabouy will be included in the Pelapis programme with an eye on the next Sea Games.
“Our focus will be on the athletes identified for the Sea Games while those aged below 23 with potential will be recommended for the Pelapis programme,” he said.
MAF will meet NSC officials in a joint-commitee meeting on Jan 29 to discus the programme in further detail. Devinder Singh
But these athletes (Siti and Komalam) can still be included in the future because the programme has a long way to go. If they can perform during the year, we will monitor and evaluate them for inclusion.”