Feeling at SEA
More events at Philippines Games but less glitter for Malaysia
PETALING JAYA: Breakdancing, underwater hockey and obstacle racing? These are among the list of unusual sports the Philippines SEA Games organisers will showcase for the first time at the SEA Games stage in six months time.
The Philippines are set to host the biggest ever multi-Games in SEA Games history with 56 sports confirmed for the final list.
Indonesia had the honour of hosting the biggest SEA Games so far, which comprised 41 sports in Jakarta and Palembang back in 2011.
New Clark City, Manila and Subic will jointly host 529 events this time. But more sports events do not mean more gold chances for Malaysia.
In fact, chef-de-mission Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin conceded Malaysia have to forget about retaining the overall title as up to 70 gold medals have been lost before the Games begins.
“We’re going in as defending champions but we have lost about 70 golds already.
“These are the events that we won when we hosted the last SEA Games in 2017 but they will not be contested in the Philippines this time.
“Malaysia will only take part in 51 out of the 56 sports (473 events). The sports we have decided not to compete in are handball, arnis, kurash, sambo and wrestling.
“Although we lost so many gold medals, it does not mean we can’t get gold in other events,” he said, adding that they should be able to forecast the actual number of golds Malaysia can win a month before the Games.
At the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, Malaysia raked in 144 out of 404 gold medals offered in 38 sports.
Cycling (13), diving (12), gymnastics (13), pencak silat (10), lawn bowls (7) and bowling (7) were among the biggest gold medal contributors for the hosts.
But the sports which are a gold mine for Malaysia have been drastically reduced or dropped altogether.
Track cycling saw Malaysia making a clean sweep in the KL Games but it has been dropped as the organisers found it too costly to renovate the existing run-down velodrome.
Diving is also another Olympic sport that,
We’re going in as defending champions but we have lost about 70 golds already. These are the events that we won when we hosted the last SEA Games in 2017 but they will not be contested in the Philippines this time.
Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin
shockingly, will only offer three gold medals in the Philippines compared to 13 in KL.
Malaysian bowlers sizzled on the lanes by winning seven of the 11 golds on offer in 2017 but will have to lower their expectations with nine events contested.
Underwater hockey, martial arts sports like kurash and sambo, obstacle racing, breakdancing, dancesport and arnis will be contested instead and they are expected to favour the host nation as they aim to finish on top of the gold-medal chase.
And let’s not forget eSports, making its debut in a multi-Games for the first time.
Malaysia have some exciting talents who are considered medal prospects in eSports, so we can expect them to shoot their way to golden glory in events like Dota 2, Starcraft 2, Mobile Legends and Arena of Valor.