FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2017 , FRIDA Y,SEPTEMBER l,2017 • NewStraitsTimes NewStraitsTimes. nu~nnn~~~iH~~, , ···· ..tu···,,·'>···· ~ 42 ~PORT SPORT 43

ARTISTIC , the 1-0 defeat to Thailand. However, Vietnam were also impres-: Mohd AI, Jufferi Jamari won his" Range. Achieve- lays ian contingent. GYMNASTICS The team had limited preparation sive and walked away with a haul of fourth consecutive Sea Games gold Other gold medallists were Benja- ment: 2 gold, In fact, both the Target: No target' 5-3-6, and Malaysia must be wary of since 2011. At 25, the three-time min Khor (men's double trap), Ezuan men's and women's due to time constraint while Kim '~~~j(t;a~~'3 silver announced Swee had to deal with tired players their advancement in the sport. world champion still has his best Nasir Khan (men's 50m rifle prone) , ~ Gan Hua Wei teams did not even Achievement: 3 prior to the Sea Games. Forward N. years ahead of him. and Alia Sazana Azahari .Iwomen's and Zylane reach the' semi- gold, 2 silver, TIMESPORT'S SEA He will be the nation's main hope for 25m pistol). . Lee were the finals. ' -Thanabalan was the star with four ..."'-. LAWN BOWLS 1bronze Target: 4 gold gold when the sport makes its debut The achievement is a sign of pro- stars for Malaysia, but Singapore Malaysia's best re- goals. '9"'":I Farah Ann Abdul Hadi continued There was no progress in the worn- ' Achievement: at the Indonesia Asia Games next gress but the National Shooting As- did better by winning three of the sult was winning a silver .at the 2001, where she left off at the Singapore en's team as they finished last by los- 7 gold, 1silver year. sociation of Malaysia (NSAM) must five events. Other members of the edition, but have not come any- Games, contributing another two ing to champions Vietnam, Thailand, The lawn bowlers look into the poor performance of national team could not raise their where close since. ' gold like she did two years ago. GAMES Myanmar and the Philippines. showed they have no peers in the rp""" RUGBY7s the women's rifle team who were performances due to lack of experi- Malaysia Volleyball Association _Tan lng Yueh could have also de- ,,1" region on the way to sweeping seven ~C' A Targets: One silver once .the country's top medal win- ence. claimed there are not enough tour- livered two gold had she not been Many sports pass with flying colours while 'a few fall flat - INDOORHOCKEY out of eight gold medals and exceed- ' '-....:.::5- (men's), third place The national synchronised swim- 'namehts in the, country and it's demoted to silver in the vault disci- ~~ Target: 2 gold ing their four-gold target. (women') mers hardly compete overseas, hard sourcing for players. Some- pline after a protest from competing Achievement: 1gold, But a side that included former , ... Achievements: One SKATING while Singapore have been invest- thing must be done about it. teams. ' BADMINTON on par with countries like Thailand or when he failed to defend his title after 1bronze world champion Safuan Said missed . gold (men) and one Speed Skating and ing in top coaches to guide their- It would be nice to see these two Target: 2 gold the Phillipines. A good achievement, The first proper indoor out on the men's, fours gold to the bronze (women). Figure Skating 'team. More must be done by the WATER POLO highly experienced gymnasts rnak- ...... :rn""'" Achievement: 1gold, nevertheless. court was laid at the Malaysia Inter- Philippines, _ Following a great year for Malaysian Target: 3 gold Amateur Swimming Union of Ma- Target: No target ing the breakthrough at the much, , 5 silver, 2 bronze , DIVING national Trade & Exhibition Centre The performances are a good sign rugby, the -team routed Singapore Medals Won: 5 gold, ' laysia to develop this,sport. Achievement: tougher Asian Garnes.level, Malaysia will have to' BOWLING , Target: 13 gold (MITEC) and the men's and women's for the Commonwealth Games next to winthe rugby 7s Sea Games gold. 3 bronze 1bronze go back to the draw- Target: 4 gold Achievement: 13 teams only trained for five months ' year where the relative youth of the This was after upsetting 2015 cham- The Ice Skating Association of Ma- TABLE TENNIS ,_ The men's water RHYTHMIC ing board as things Achievement: 7 gold, gold,5 silver, there but still managed to dazzle. Malaysian squad should augur well. pions Philippines. laysia (ISAM)'s target was exceeded Target: 3 bronze pool team defied the odds by win- GYMNASTICS are not looking good for the national 4 silver, 3 bronze 1bronze The men won gold and the wom~n In the women's competition, Malay- by two gold medals when Anja Chong Achievement: ning the bronze following wins over ",- Target: 6 gold team. • You can always count on OLYMPIANS, world champion multi- bronze. In comparison, Thailand-and MUAY sia's second attempt at rugby 7s in delivered three gold in the women's 2 bronze the Philippines and Thailand,while Achievement: 'At the Sea Games, Malaysia players, bowling to deliver when ple Sea Games champions made up Indonesia have been actively playing Target: -2gold the Sea Games produced exactly individual500m, 1000m and 3000m Table tennis ended the women's team failed to finish on a gold, ;) silver especially those who reached the fi- it matters. Rafiq Ismail and Shalin the diving squad and it was no won- the sport for the last five years. Achievement: 2 gold, what they were hoping for, a bet- team relay. on a slightly disappointing note for the podium. Malaysia's rhyth- nals, failed to capitalise when it mat- Zulkifli were the top performers der that Malaysia made a clean sweep However, the sport is set to be placed 1silver, 1bronze ter result than fourth place in 2015, Julian Yee also contributed with the Malaysian contingent as some It was the first podium finish for the mic gymnasts were peerless at tered most. With the Thomas Cup, as they won three titles each in the of 13 gold on offer. Amazingly, the on the backburner again, as nobody The Muay squad when they won -the bronze medal gold in men's figure skating while the of the players, namely, veteran Ng ~ men's team since the 2005 Manila KL2017, sweeping all eight gold med- Asian and Commonwealth Games men's and women's competitions. oldest diver stole the limelight and knows what to do with the artificial proved their two gold following a narrow 7-5 win over the men's 3,000m relay of Mohd Ariff Sock Khim failed to make it past the edition. The water polo fraternity als on offer at the sport with minimal looming, it will be interesting to see For the women, it was a sweet outing .it looks like 32 year-old Leong Mun carpet once it's ripped off to tu~n haul at the 2013 Myanmar Games Rasydan, De-Vin Wong, Khairil Rid- qualifying stage . hope more funding will be chan- fuss. how BAM president Datuk Seri Norza as they overcame rivals Singapore, Yee will still be around for the Philip- MITEC into an exhibition centre was no fluke as they matched that hwan Khalil and Hazim Shahrum fin- Sock Khim had initially targeted a neled to the sport after the success. Koi Sie Yan was the standout gym- Zakaria and his coaches turn things who brought in eight coaches for the pines Sea Games in two years time. performance with almost a com- ished on top of the podium. bronze but it did not materialise. again. National Sports Council dire~- ~::~!~:G5g0Id nast for Malaysia, winning four gold around. ' Sea Games. Bowling will now shift MunYee took her Games gold medal tor general Datuk' Shapawi Ahmad pletely new set of fighters. .Phm:~.e~l)" The figure and speed skaters will The paddler will have one more last WATERSKII ' r; - and two silver. their focus to next year's Indonesia haul to 17 and is now thethird most said he will look for another hall, but Ain Kamarrudin and Mohd . Ali , Achievement: now focus on qualifying for the 2018 'chance (next year's Commonwealth Target: 2 gold It is important that the squad con- BASKETBALL Asian Games. successful Malaysian athlete behind admitted there is none available at Yaakub lived up to expectations as 6 gold, 4 silver, Winter Olympics as well as becom- Games) to make it count before call- Achievement: tinue to maintain -their performance Target: 1gold bowler Shalin Zulkifli (20) and swim- . the moment . they both stuck gold in their classes. 4bronze ing the nation's first-ever represent- ing it quits next year. 4 gold, 1silver, .. at the 2019 Philippines Sea Games A~hievement: 1gold CRICKEJ ,mer Nurul Huda Abdullah (22). Muay was not included at the 2015 The Malaysian atives in Pyeongchang, South Korea. ;:> 2 bronze and prove that they are capable of The national wom- Target: 2 gold ICEHOCKEY Singapore games. sailors won six gold from 14 events to • . --" Once again, + delivering the goods both at home en's team, under Achievement: 1gold, EQUESTRIANAND Target: No target set exceed their target byone though it SQUASH Target: 1bronze the Hanifah Yoong clan reigned su- and abroad. coach Yoong Sze Yuin, bulldozed 1silver, 1bronze POLO Achievement: 1bronze NETBALL was down from the seven gold won Target: 7 gold Achievement: preme in the sport, exceeding the their way to a winning 6-0 record' Cricket made a success- Target: 3 gold As the sport was con- Target: 1gold .in 2015, when 20 events were staged. Achievement: 6 gold, \ r Ii ..- 1bronze two gold target. ARCHERY to retain the gold medal they won in ful Sea Games debut with Malaysia, Medals won: 6 gold, 3 tested for the first time Achievement: Four of the gold medals came in .age- 4 silver, 2 bronze , 't' Jawairiah Noor- The nation's waterskii darling Aali- , Target: 4 gold Singapore two years ago. Singapore and Thailand sharing the silver, 1bronze ever at the Sea Games, the national Igold restricted optimist and Internation- The sport's best-ever ..... din and S. Theiviya yah Yoong bagged three gold while Achievement:5 gold, As the men laboured to yet another three gold medals on offer. However, The equestrian team men's ice hockey team did not expect The national worn- al420 events which point to a bright medal haul of six gold, ended Malaysia's 14-year medal her brother Adam became the 3 silver, 2 bronze fifth-place finish, the women's team the national team will be disappoint- were in fine form at KL2017, comfort- much. , en's netball squad future for Malaysian sailing. four silver and two bronze was tern- . drought in a non-team event by win- youngest athlete at the KL2017 to With a haul of five provided the cheer for the fans at the ed to have allowed Singapore to take able exceeding the 2 gold target with Malaysia won their opening match came into the Sea Games with one The challenge now is for the sport pered by the loss Of the men's team ning the women's doubles 'bronze win gold in the trick event. gold, three' silver Maba Stadium. The Malaysian Bas- the men's Twenty20 gold medal after some stunning performances, thanks against Indonesia (10-3) but subse- ' mission and one mission only - that to translate regional success into event to unheralded the Philippines medal. The focus now is to increase the pool and two bronze medals, the nation- ketball Association, however, have to making an atrocious start to the final. to some bigname appearances. quently lost against Thailand (4-10). is to take toe gold medal from 2015 continental level at the Asian Games in the semi-finals: In the other events, Malaysian play- of athletes, so that more Malaysians al archers equalled the tally they find a way to get the struggling men's The Malaysian Cricket Association Siblings Qabil Ambak and Quzan- They won the bronze after the 8-2 vic- hosts, Singapore and they did ex- next year where Malaysia have a gold The national coaches underesti- ers failed to make any impact, los- can be as good as the Yoong skiiers. achieved in 2015 as the compound team to perform after missing out on had targeted two gold medals, includ- dria Nur Mahamad Fathil's return to tory over Singapore. The Malaysian actlythat. ' medal to defend. mated the opposition in choosing a ing in the early rounds. Malaysia will and recurve archers won three and the semi-finals yet again following a ing the 50-overs title which Malaysia the squad made a significant impact, Ice Hockey Federation aim to' keep In the pr.eliminaries, Malaysia won • A~_ weakened line-up and paid the ulti- ,have to wait for another two years WEIGHTLIFTING two gold medals respectively. defeat by Thailand. won, and will now have to work hard with them playing a hand in securing , working on developing new talents. four of four matches for a clean ~ ~.Jl SEPAK,TAKRAW mate price as squash fell short of its to end the country's 44-year gold Target: 1silver, Of greater significance is the resur- in negotiations with the Philippines seven-gold target. medal wait in the sport. 2 bronze three gold for the team. sheet to only meet old-time rivals ~~~, ,~~, Target:2gold gence of the women recurve archers, BILLIARDSAND to ensure cricket remains on the pro- Terengganu ruler Sultan Mizan Zain- _ rr--" JUDO _"" Singapore in the final and 'eventually Achievement: However, in deciding to field a squad Achievement: , who w'on the team event for -their SNOOKER gramme in 2019. al Abidin was also in his element in ~ Target: 2 silver' , "~ winning 65-41. , El C"a_ 2 gold, 3 silver, of youngster for the Sea Games, the ":H'cljiiNorL",=-- 1silver, 1bronze first gold medal in 12 years. Target: 1gold the individual endurance event while _~_ -~ Medals won: 1silv!,!r, Well led by captain Nur Syafazliyana 6bronze Squash Racquets AssociationofMa- It has never Malaysia's strength in depth is evi- [~:::;iiI.Achievement: CYCLING(Road, track Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin I._.J/It!tp - 2 bronze Mohd Ali, the team saw exceptional '- As expected, the laysia should be lauded for placing been easy for dent in the fact that four of the gold 3bronze andBMX) lived up to the pre-games hype as he ":;" ~\ Malaysia's judokas have performances from Nur Fariha Ab- national team had no problems their trust in juniors, as shown by' national lifters at the Sea' Games medals came in team events though Expectations were high on RoryThor Target: U-gold led the polo squad toa successful de- not won a Sea Gamef dul Razak, An Najwa Azizan and No- achieving their' two-gold target the women's team who won gold with and it was no different this time as the archers can consider themselves Chuan Leong and Moh Keen Hoo to Achievements: ' fence of the polo gold. gold in 36 years a'iid it was not reali§-: ._, rashikin Kamal Zaman. ' through the inter:'regu and chinlone a side exclusively made up ofteenag- the squad found it tough against unlucky to have lost in three other retain their singles and doubles gold . Track: 13gold, 10 silver, tically expected to happen at KL2017. linking even~s as arch rivals Thai- TRIATHLON their Olympic-class opponents. finals. medals, but they succumbed to pres- 3bronze ",.. FIELD HOCKEY Chong Wei Fu did well to deliver a OPEN WATER ' land did not compete in both. Target: 1gold Mohamad Fazrul Azrie Mohdad, 22, sure in their own backyard. ' Road: Two gold, 3 silver, 1bronze ~~ Target: 2 gold silver as Mohd, Farhan Uzair Fikri Target: 1gold Th'esquad were, however, disap- SWIMMING Achievement: 1bronze however, snatched a surprise silver ATHLETICS It was the first time Malaysia did not BMX:1bronze Achievement: 2 gold and Nor Izzatul Fazlia Tahir, both ex- Achievement: pointing in the men's team event • Target: 3 gold Irene Chong's bronze medal in the in the men's 85kg class. Along with Target: 6 gold win a gold medal in the Sea Games Cycling, in all three disciplines; ex- ~ The Malaysian men's pected to challenge for gold, faltered 2gold where they los't, to Indonesia in the Achievement: 'women's triathlon was all the sport Loro Wellkinson Peuji, the sport Achievement: since the 2009 Korat edition. ceeded their targets as all track, road and women's hockey at the semi-final stage. Kevin Yeap and round robin competition and were ~~~ 3 gold, 3 silv~r, ' CQuid manage after, Rikigoro Shino- does have potential that can be de- 8 gold, 8 silver, Cue sports' are not highly regarded and BMX athletes played their part teamS have no rivals among their The sport will need to expand at the Heidi Gan ex- forced to settle for bronze. , 3bronze zuka won silver in the men's event veloped. ' 9bronze and as a result, they receive limited to add to the 145-gold haul but there Asean neighbours. grassroots to beable to progress. ' ceeded the target by winning a gold The Sepak Takraw Association of Welson Sim was the star with two two years ago in Singapore. With their best fl1riding for exposure. Furthermore, were ups arid downs along the way. Our men are ranked 12th while the medal each in the men's and wom- Malaysia and the sports ministry gold medals in the men's freestyle The Philippines proved too strong WUSHU performance since there is no training centre to develop The ups was Fatehah Mustapa com~ , women 22nd in the wkuala Lumpur Conven- 'from the seni and seven from the gold medal as shooting surpassed SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING Volleyball was the only sport that sia emulated the six gold medals din set to propel the sport forward. a long way to go before they could be Saleh's setback in the men's road race goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli's blunder in ,tion Centre. olahraga events. their target at the'Subang Shooting Target: 2 gold did not deliver a medal for the Ma- they won in the 2QOl KL edition. +