M'sia Targets Three Sports For Medal Contributions In Rio Olympics

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), July 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is targeting the national contingent to clinch medals via three sports namely badminton, track cycling and diving at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, next month. He said he was confident all athletes had prepared themselves especially those who were seen to have the potential to contribute medals to the country notably national badminton champion Lee Chong Wei, track cycling champion Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and diving queen Pandelela Rinong. According to Khairy, the targets for medals in the three sports were realistic goals considering the current performance displayed by the athletes concerned. "I believe and I am confident if they fulfill their true potentials this time in Rio, we will secure our first Olympic gold medal. "The first goal medal can come not from only one but two, three or even four athletes. We hope they do their best on that day. "I believe Chong Wei in his best on that day can collect the gold medal, Azizul in the best on that day can win the keirin final, perhaps, the badminton doubles can give a surprise and Pandelela also has a chance, if not gold, maybe a silver," he said. He told reporters after witnessing the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Secretariat of 29th SEA Games and 9th ASEAN Para Games (MASOC) with Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd at the Youth and Sports Ministry. Meanwhile, for athletes who did not set any medal target, Khairy reminded them not to become tourists in Rio. He said athletes in athletics were told to give their best performance by at least improving the national or personal records. "Even though our contingent comprised 32 athletes, not all of them are targeted to win medals. "I hope, even though they were not targeted to win medals or attain podium positions, they would do their best to at least achieve their personal bests. I do not want them to be sports tourists," he said. The national contingent of 32 athletes had qualified for Rio Olympics scheduled to be held from Aug 5 to 21. Apart from Chong Wei, Mohd Azizulhasni and Pandelela, other athletes are Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Haziq Kamaruddin and Muhammad Ikram Joni (archery); Fatehah Mustapa (track cycling); Ooi Tze Liang, Ahmad Amsyar Azman, Cheong Jun Hoong, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Ng Yan Yee (diving); Khairulnizam Mohd Affendy and Nur Shazrin Latiff (sailing). Jonathan Wong (shooting); Welson Sim and Phee Jinq En (aquatic); Nauraj Singh and Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli (athletics); Heidi Gan (marathon swimming), Mohd Hafifi Mansor (weighlifting), Danny Chia, Gavin Kyle Green, Kelly Tan, Michelle Koh (golf). Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, Chan Peng Soon, Goh Liu Ying, Tee Jing Yi, Vivian Hoo and Woon Khe Wei are competing in badminton. For the record, the national contingent won the silver medal in badminton through Chong Wei in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics while Pandalela won a bronze medal in the London Olympics. -- BERNAMA