Malaysia's Medal Trail Come To A Grinding Halt On Day 12

From ZURIATI ZULMI INCHEON, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's medal trail came to a grinding halt on day 12 of the Incheon Asian Games, here Wednesday. With only four gold medals in the bag and three more days to go, Malaysia's eight-gold target is looking more of a distant dream, especially so when most of the sports involving Malaysian medal hopes having been completed. Divers came out of the pool empty handed on the third day of diving competition as Cheong Jun Hoong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Ooi Tze Liang and Ahmad Amsyar Azman fell short of finishing on the podium. At the bowling alley, Malaysian keglers also failed to blaze the lanes and finished without mounting a serious challenge for medals. Sailing which contributed a gold and two silver medals Tuesday, failed to set sail at the Wangsan Sailing Marina when vastly experienced sailor Jeremy Koo and crew finished in fourth place, thus failing to finish on the podium. Though hopes still hinge on tenpin bowling as the competition in the second block continues Thursday, winning a gold looks remote, unless a miracle happens. The country's only hope of adding to the four-gold tally will now depend on how the karate exponents perform when the competition opens its doors Thursday while diving competition also offers a glimmer of hope as diving competitions continue for the fourth day. On paper though, the Chinese are looking unbeatable in diving competitions, having swept almost every gold medal at stake over the past three days. Malaysia's medal fortune will suffer another blow if the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCA) decide to withdraw the gold won by Malaysia in wushu because the medal is still counted in the current medal tally. After 12 days of action, Malaysia are in 15th spot with four gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals. -- BERNAMA