Arab News

SEA Games: Target 111 as Malaysia aim to set gold standard

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is gunning to top the medals table and generate some positive headlines after pulling out all the stops to host the Southeast Asian Games, which opens in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The steamy nation has finished top of the medals tally only once, the last time it held the biennial competitio­n, and is hoping to match the 111 golds it won on home ground in 2001.

At the 11-nation SEA Games, which retain a proudly regional flavour, Olympic sports like swimming and athletics sit side-by-side with regional favorites like martial arts pencak silat and wushu.

History shows Malaysia’s medals bid is well-founded: Six of the last 10 SEA Games hosts have topped the table, reflecting the tradition of rewriting the sporting program to suit local strengths.

Ahead of Saturday’s opening ceremony, Malaysia was quickly on the board with the Games’ first title, in sepak takraw — a ball-juggling sport played with the feet and a rattan ball.

“Today our mission has been accomplish­ed. But we have 110 gold medals to go,” said Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, who will compete for Malaysia in polo.

“Gold will not come rolling to us. We have to go and win the gold.”

Malaysia has dealt with difficult events in recent times, including the disappeara­nce of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the 1MDB financial scandal and February’s assassinat­ion in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong-Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

But the SEA Games are a chance to paint a more flattering picture, and workers have been busy sprucing up the capital by repairing roads and pavements, and decorating the streets with plants and flowers.

Buildings and lampposts are draped with Malaysian flags, and the SEA Games mascot, a cuddly tiger called Rimau, adorns electronic billboards around the city. Malaysia will celebrate 60 years of independen­ce on August 31, the day after the closing ceremony.

However, last-minute hitches hint at a level of unprepared­ness, with a key venue reportedly not ready this week and large numbers of fans with tickets turned away from Malaysia’s opening football match against Brunei.

Thousands of police, plus commandos and Malaysia’s specialist anti-terror force, will guard against potential threats, and pre-Games raids rounded up hundreds of illegal migrant workers — most of whom were later released.

The home country’s chief threat on the medals table comes from Thailand, who were top at the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore with 95 golds, well ahead of fourth-placed Malaysia’s 62.

With badminton star Lee Chong Wei away at the world championsh­ips in Glasgow, track cycling and diving world title-holders Azizulhasn­i Awang and Cheong Jun Hoong are the figurehead­s for Malaysia’s team of 800-plus.

Neighbouri­ng Singapore venture across the border with 100m butterfly Olympic champion Joseph Schooling, who irritated Malaysians when he cheekily promised to “teach them a thing or two” in the pool.

Schooling won nine gold medals in 2015 but he is only expected to swim three individual events in Kuala Lumpur — while Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Anh Vien, an eight-time winner in Singapore, is reportedly going for 12 swimming victories.

Kuala Lumpur will also be the first SEA Games to feature ice sports — ice hockey, speed skating and figure skating — despite the fact that tropical Malaysia has no winter months, and temperatur­es rarely drop below 20 degrees C (68 F).

In a diverse program, athletics and swimming have the biggest medalcount among the 404 titles on offer, while pencak silat has 20 golds and even petanque, a hangover of French colonialis­m, will crown seven SEA Games champions.

 ??  ?? Muhammad Abid Zainuddin of Malaysia, left, vies for the ball with Muhammad Hami Syahin of Singapore during their men's football Group A round match of the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at Shah Alam Stadium, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday....
Muhammad Abid Zainuddin of Malaysia, left, vies for the ball with Muhammad Hami Syahin of Singapore during their men's football Group A round match of the 29th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at Shah Alam Stadium, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday....
 ??  ?? Usman Khawaja
Usman Khawaja
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