~* mY rEmiNiScEncES *~

Four years ago, the Malaysian team recorded best achievement in China with a haul of 9 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze medals during the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

This year, eight gold medals are on the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s (OCM) wish list. The eight gold medal target was declared by the Games chef-de-mission Datuk Danyal Balagopal Abdullah who spearheads the South Korean-bound 421-member representation after the flag-handing ceremony by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

The Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the target was set after careful evaluation of the perspectives and recommendations of the National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institute (ISN) and OCM. Malaysia pares down the Asian Games line-up to 425 athletes and officials, competing in 25 out of the 36 sports at the Games. Although the bar is slightly lowered this year, the OCM is sending the best athletes to Incheon after a poor performance at the recent Commonwealth Games in Scotland.

Hope is high for these sports: Badminton, Bowling, Cycling, Karate, Sailing, Squash and Wushu.

“To be honest, it will be tougher at the Asian Games but I definitely hope to come back mentally stronger. With Lin Dan also featuring (in the Asiad), it will definitely make the competition more interesting. I’m hoping to make a good comeback but, more importantly, I hope the whole team will stand up and fight together,” said the world No. 1 Shuttler Dato’ Lee Chong Wei who will compete in the Asiad.

“It’s always been me… so, hopefully things will be different this time. The doubles are also going through some changes and I hope that the new partnerships will do better in Incheon,” added Chong Wei. For a long time, Chong Wei has almost single-handedly laden the burden with the burden of bringing honour to the country. He is now steeling himself for the Asiad after failing to win the title at the recent World Badminton Championships.

Dato’ Lee Chong Wei will clash with Chen Long again in the men’s semi-finals. They are set to light up the Incheon Asian Games.

On the other hand, World No. 1 Squash athlete, Datuk Nicol David, who has three Asian games singles titles to her name, expressed the high chances of retaining the team title in the Asiad.

“My preparation leading up to the Asian games had started before the Commonwealth Games, so, I and the other teammates had a time off to prepare for the Asian Games. So far, I feel my condition is very good to face the games,” the 31-year-old Nicol said. Nevertheless, she is still wary of her opponents in spite of sounding upbeat on securing the individual gold medal in the Games.

Besides that, Loh Jack Chang, the Wushu gold medalist in 2007 and 2009 Southeast Asian Games, expressed that the Asian Games is the most important event in his sports career.

“Actually I didn’t put any expectation in the Asian Games. I will just treat it as an enjoyable and precious moment in my sports career. I will do my best and strive without regret,” said Jack Chang, the experienced three-time medalist in World Wushu Championships from 2009 – 2013.

“I am ready for the game,” he said.

Jack Chang will be competing for the Taolu disciplines (Taijijian and Tajiquan) which is one of the eight golds targeted from Wushu.

 

“The country has gone through some tragic moments due to a number of major tragedies. Through success at the Asian Games, we can help cheer up the people to a certain degree,” Khairy commented.

“The games will be challenging for sure, but our athletes have trained hard,” Danyal said. “I tell them that whatever they do, they must give their best”.

“The first batch of athletes: bowling, sepak takraw, shooting, squash, weightlifting and wushu will be departing for Incheon on Sept 15. The OCM Secretariat staff and officials from the NSC and ISN will also travel with them. From then on, we will have teams leaving in batches depending on when their events start,” stated Danyal.

Malaysia’s squash queen Datuk Nicol David is the flag bearer for the 17th Asian Games. Sports which delivered gold medals in 2010 were bowling, cycling, karate, Wushu and squash. Let’s wish them best success in the Asiad.

Malaysia boleh!

This article was written by an official member of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games bloggers, IAG Crew. Some contents might be different from official position of the Organizing Committee.