APG: Rain Will Not Stop Us From Bringing Back 23 Gold In Athletics - Coach

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- The national athletics squad is determined to bring home 23 gold medals from the 8th ASEAN Para Games (APG), to be held in Singapore from Dec 3-9. It's head coach R. Jaganathan said the current unpredictable weather and sudden downpours will not dampen the spirit the 45-member squad from resuming their training and preparations. "Rain is not an excuse for us to stop our training. We still continue our stimulation workouts and training despite rain. But (we) still hope the weather will be good for the next few days. "The athletes are in good form. The squad also consists of nine young potential athletes below 21 years to give them international exposure," he told Bernama when met during a training session at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex, here, Wednesday. Jaganathan admitted that the target of 23 gold is lower than what the squad brought back from Myanmar at the last edition, which was 38 gold medals due to combinations and cancellation of events by hosts Singapore. "Besides that, other countries like Thailand, Vietnam as well as Indonesia are improving a lot in terms of their performance. So the challenge is getting tougher and tougher every time," he explained. Hosting the biennial games for disabled for the first time ever, Singapore are expecting to receive 3,000 athletes and officials during the seven day multi-sport event at various venues, mainly at the Singapore Sports Hub and Kallang area, which is also in conjunction with the nation's 50th independence anniversary. Jaganathan also confirmed that two gold medallists of the IPC Athletics World Championship in Doha, Qatar, Abdul Latif Romly (T20 long jump) and Mohammad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi (T36 100m) are part of the squad. Apart from the two gold, Malaysia had also claimed three bronze medals in Doha through Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (F20 shot putt), Mohamad Saifuddin Ishak (T12 long jump) and Siti Noor Iasah (T20 400m). "The APG will also serve as a warm up for six of our athletes to participate in 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games," he said. For record, Malaysia finished the Myanmar edition held in January 2014 in third place with 49 gold, 46 silver and 37 bronze medals. -- BERNAMA