Hosts Philippines name 30 sports for SEA Games
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia can forget about defending the 32 gold medals out of the 145 won during their overall title-winning campaign at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year.
The upcoming hosts Philippines have come up with the provisional list of 30 sports – omitting some of the disciplines that Malaysia are strong in – to be contested in the 30th edition of the biennial Games from Nov 30-Dec 10 next year.
The first 30 sports approved by the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) Council following the two-day meeting which ended in Manila on Thursday were athletics, aquatics, archery, badminton, baseball, basketball, billiards and snooker, bowling, boxing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, gymnastics, judo, karate, sailing, sepaktakraw, shooting, squash, taekwondo, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu, arnis, dancesport and muay thai.
Arnis, which is a Philippines martial art and the country’s national sport, is set for only its second appearance after debuting in the Manila Games in 2005.
The nine gold medal-contributing sports for Malaysia last year that did not make the list were pencak silat, petanque, ice skating, lawn bowls, water skiing, hockey, rugby, netball and cricket.
Pencak silat was the fifth-biggest contributor for the national contingent with 10 golds, while short track speed skating and figure skating won a combined five golds when winter sports made its debut at KL 2017.
Water skiing was also outstanding with a four-gold haul, followed by petanque (two), hockey (three, including one from indoor hockey), rugby sevens, netball and cricket (all one each).
For cycling, however, it is also not immediately known if the hosts will hold a full programme for the track discipline, which Azizulhasni Awang-led Malaysia took 11 of the 13 golds at stake.
If history is to repeat itself, Malaysia can expect a smaller haul as in 2005 – when only four gold medals were offered at the velodrome.
Malaysia were represented at the SEAGF meeting – hosted by the Philippines Olympic Committee (POC) – by a four-member team led by Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria.
OCM, in a statement yesterday, said badminton was initially left out from the 30-sport list presented by POC .
“Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand disagreed with the initial list of 30 sports proposed by the Organising Committee due to the exclusion of badminton,” said the statement.
“They eventually reinstated the sport after giving due consideration to the strong appeal by the majority of the SEAGF Member-NOCs.”
OCM said the number of sports may increase as the SEAGF Member-NOC are given until June 13 to submit their appeal and suggestions for additional sports to be included in the final programme for the 30th SEA Games.