KUALA LUMPUR: While winning seven-gold at the upcoming Indonesia Asian Games is hardly a high target, the Sports Ministry have a good reason to be pessimistic with their projections in what will be a true test of just how far Malaysia have progressed over the past four years.
Having won a record of nine gold at the Guangzhou edition in 2010, then Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin drew flak for setting an equally pessimistic eight-gold target ahead of the 2014 Incheon edition.
But even with the lower target, the 2014 Games — where Malaysia won five gold, 14 silver and 14 bronze — turned out to be the country's worst showing since the 1998 Bangkok edition.
The Asian Games in Indonesia will be a testament on how far the nation’s elite athletes have progressed under the Podium Programme, which was launched in 2016 by Khairy, following the mix performance at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
A lot of money have been invested into the programme and it is time for the athletes to show their true mettle as a good performance will give Malaysia the hope of ending their Olympic gold medal wait in 2020 in Tokyo.
The podium initiative could risk losing all or even face the chop if they fail in Indonesia.
On paper, the potential gold medal winners for Malaysia are clear but whether they can deliver when it matters is another story altogether.
Silat for example, which is making its Asian Games debut this year, has been notorious for controversial judging in both the ‘seni’ and ‘olahraga’ disciplines.
It will be interesting to see whether the combat sports would be free from bias decisions in Indonesia.
Jufferi Al-Jamari, Siti Rahmah Nasir and Fauzi Khalid, who are either current or former world champions, have been each earmarked for gold. They, however, have to tread with caution as
competing on Indonesian soil, who are their traditional rivals, will not be easy.
In track cycling, Olympic bronze medallist and former world champion (in keirin) Azizulhasni Awang is known for his incredible mental strength and track record when it comes to delivering the goods in major competitions.
Unfortunately his season has been hampered by illness. A viral infection robbed him of his world meet title in March and was later forced to sit out the sprint event at the Commonwealth Games a month later.
On a positive note, he won two gold and a silver at the China Track Cup last month and has two very promising teammates in Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Fadhil Zonis to work with in the team sprint.
Malaysian squash players have never failed to win a gold in the sport since it was introduced at the 1998 Bangkok edition, but it cannot be considered a 'fixed deposit' sport this time.
Nicol David's form has seen better days but her long break since the Commonwealth Games, which she left empty-handed, should see her in top form again following injuries.
Low Wee Wern, who has been on fire since making her comeback from injury last month, has not been listed for the individual event as she lost to S. Sivasangari in the final of last month’s National Championships. The event was served as a qualifier to determined the two individual slots.
The national women's bowling team comprising Shalin Zulkifli, Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, Syaidatul Afifah Badrul Hamidi, Natasha Roslan, Sin Li Jane and Esther Cheah will have to be consistent right off the bat as a new system has been introduced for the competition this year where the scores of all six bowlers will be counted for in the team event instead of the best five.
This will leave them with little margin for error.
Despite being the current world champions in the team event, they will have to navigate the tournament carefully with Singapore, who finished runners-up at the World Championships and the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games last year, in the mix as well as regional powerhouse South Korea.
Only six gold medals will be on offer in bowling.
Though it is not confirmed yet due to a registration issue, the sepaktakraw squad are
expected to deliver a first gold in the sport since the 1990 edition if they are allowed to compete in the inter-regu event.
Rivals Thailand are not competing in the event.
The goal in the Asian Games should be winning Olympic events rather than titles in sports like sepak takraw and silat.
Regardless of the outcome in Indonesia, Sports Minister Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman will need to conduct a thorough assessment of the national contingent's performance and decide on whether he should revamp Khairy's methods to take Malaysia to the next level.
The findings could prove to be invaluable in setting the direction of Malaysian sports over the next five years.
keywords: Asian Games, target, Khairy Jamaluddin, Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman, Nicol David, Azizulhasni Awang