SLOWLY but surely, Malaysian sport is edging towards the path which will promise it a better and brighter future.

Yesterday's Cabinet Committee for Sports' decision to recognise archery, badminton and cycling as potential medal winners at the 2012 London Olympics would have been greeted with joy by the associations concerned but for the others, the message is loud and clear -- only results will mean better funding.

Of course, bowling has no reason to worry and the performance of the national back-up bowlers in the Commonwealth Championships shows it has a solid structure in place while squash, as long as Nicol David rules, will also enjoy better privileges and perks.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak indicated this would be the way for Malaysian sport during the National Sports Convention and now that it has been implemented, associations must not take it as a demotion but as a challenge, especially those who were put in the same basket as archery, badminton and cycling during the convention.

In all honesty, some of the sports found their way into the same puddle only because they had some very vocal representatives in the four groups during the convention but for Malaysian sport to progress, the cream must be separated from the rest.
Even then, we can safely say that of the three, only badminton has a great chance -- provided our players can find the consistency of China while archery and cycling will be longshots at best.

As for the others, the challenge now is to elevate their status and that can only be done through hard work.

Gone are the days where Malaysians were satisfied with athletes just qualifying for the Olympics and the Beijing experience was a sobering one indeed as some were just downright poor.

The National Sports Council must play the leading role here by introducing a ranking system of its own and placing associations in categories based on what they can be expected to achieve.

It will be good if the Olympic Council of Malaysia is involved in the process too but will it want to when its decisions could affect its affiliates?

Currently, NSC has 19 core sports but honestly, is this a feasible number?

The 19 are considered to have the potential to deliver at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games but most are only there because they have one or two athletes who have delivered at these levels.

The question is what happens after these athletes retire and should one association be given millions when all it has is one star?

What NSC should do is continue supporting the athletes who excel but reduce the financial support to associations unless they work their way up. Even the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) recognises this and it is heartening to note that it has set itself some non-Nicol related targets.

Associations should also not shy away from asking for pointers and one successful model they can try and emulate is that of the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC).

The great thing about sports is that hard work does pay off and the Malaysian National Cycling Federation (MNCF) is a great example.

If it was only known for politicking before, it is the performance of the likes of Azizul Hasni Awang and Josiah Ng which is grabbing the headlines today and for this, the Cabinet Committee for Sports rewarded the MNCF yesterday.

If MNCF could do it, why not others?