Malaysia hits gold medal target via Tze Liang, Muhammad Nazreen



Gold medallist Muhammad Nazreen Abdullah (centre) of Malaysia, silver medallist and compatriot Ooi Tze Liang (left) and bronze medallist Adityo Restu Putra of Indonesia pose with their medals after the men's 10m platform final

during the 27th SEA Games in Myanmar. — Reuters pic

NAYPYITAW, Dec 21 — Malaysia have met their target of 40 gold at the SEA Games in Myanmar when the diving pair of Ooi Tze Liang/Muhammad Nazreen Abdullah won the men’s 10m synchronised platform event at the Wunna Theikdi Aquatics Centre today.

 

The event today concluded Tze Liang’s outing in the games with three gold and Muhammad Nazreen with two gold.

 

Malaysia is holding high hopes for the eighth gold when Nur Dhabi Sabri/Leong Mun Yee turn out for the women’s 10m synchronised platform later. — Bernama

 

 

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/sports/article/malaysia-hits-gold-medal-target-via-tze-liang-muhammad-nazreen



SEA Games Report Card: Juniors Did Good

Hit and miss. National Sports Council's director-general Zolkples Embong was full of praise for national back-up athletes who did well at the Myanmar SEA Games which ended on Sunday, and critical of some sports that failed to live up to expectations. - Filepic

NAYPYITAW: The Malaysian young guns have proved their worth at the Myanmar SEA Games.

Out of a total haul of 43-38-77, a total of nine golds, four silvers and 12 bronzes came from the national back-up team.

And that is good news for Malaysia, who are searching for new stars to make a stronger assault at the Asian and Olympic Games.

“This is the highest-ever gold medal contribution by the back-up athletes in our SEA Games history, And it does not include the young athletes who are already in the elite squad,” said a proud NSC director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong.

The men’s back-up athletes who won golds are Lim Chee Wei (men’s kata individual), the men’s kata team (Chee Wei, Leong Tze Wai and Emmanuel Leong Theng Keong), Eddy Chew (shooting), Sentil Kumaran Selvarajoo (men’s kumite’s below 60kg), Mohd Irfan Shamsuddin (discus) and Nauraj Singh Randhawa (high jump).

Gole medallists S. Shree Sharmini (kumite below 68kg), pencak silat’s Nor Hamizah Abu Hassan and Nur Syazreen Abdul Malik (ganda double) and wushu’s Phoon Eyin are from the women’s back-up squad.

For the 18-year-old Irfan, the NSC have big plans for him.

“He is one of our outstanding athletes here and we will continue to give him the right exposure. He is our star for the future,” said Zolkples.

Of the country’s multiple gold medallists, Zolkples was full of praise for Mohd Jironi Riduan for winning golds in the 800m and 1,500m.

“This is Jironi’s last SEA Games and he showed great determination and pushed himself hard to the finish line. He will now become our coach at the Bandar Penawar Sports School.”

Zolkples, however, was disappointed with four sports – football, sepaktakraw, archery (compound) and cycling (road).

“We invested so much on sepaktakraw and they could not even nick one out of the 18 gold medals. These sports need to review their performances,” said Zolkples.

Other assessments by NSC

• A total of 13 sports were given excellent billing for winning gold medals – swimming (4), diving (8), badminton (1), billiards and snooker (1), bodybuilding (1), equestrian (3), hockey (2), karate (7), shooting (1), muay (2), sailing (2), wushu (3), archery recurve (2).
• Five sports – cycling, football, archery compound, athletics and pencak silat – failed to meet the gold medal target.
• Six sports – equestrian, badminton, karate, muay, swimming, billiards and snooker – delivered more than they promised.
• Six national records were set through Mohd Irfan Shamsuddin (men’s discus), Jackie Wong Siew Cheer (men’s hammer), Mohd Hakimi Ismail (men’s triple jump), Iskandar Alwi (men’s pole vault), men’s 4x200m freestyle (Lim Ching Hwang, Kevin Yeap, Daniel Bego and Welson Sim) and Nor Khasida Abdul Halim (women’s weightlifting, 69kg).

The Stars Of The Games

Ooi Tze Liang and his Malaysian diving team-mates pose after emerging as the top nation in diving at the Myanmar SEA Games with a clean sweep of eight gold medals.

NAYPYITAW: There were many winners from Malaysia in the recently concluded 27th SEA Games in Myanmar. Some were expected to do well, while others produced great performances that surprised us. Here's a look at some who made an impression during the 11-day Games.


WUSHU
Schoolgirl Phoon Eyin came to Myanmar as a nobody but she left as a star after securing Malaysia’s historical 1,000th gold medal of the Games.

The 17-year-old Eyin, who sat for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations last month, gave an outstanding performance to score 9.67 points to become a surprise winner in the women’s qiangshu (spear).

She has a bright future and the Malaysian Wushu Federation (MWF) will be banking on her to deliver the gold in the Asian Games in Incheon in September.

Eyin is still young and is eligible to compete in at least four more SEA Games.

ATHLETICS

Burly teenager Mohd Irfan Shamsuddin created a big surprise by rewriting his national record five times in six throws en route to winning the men’s discus gold. The 18-year-old improved his national record from 50.77m to 53.16m. His previous national record of 49.90m was set in last month’s Brunei Open.

Irfan also earned a berth in next year’s Under-19 World Junior Championships in Oregon, the United States, in July. The qualifying mark for the championships is 51.50m.

DIVING

Ooi Tze Liang’s campaign did not start well as he had to settle for the silver behind team-mate Mohd Nazreen in the individual 10m platform final. But the 20-year-old Penangite, in his second Games appearance, recovered to become the most successful Malaysian athlete at these Games with three golds.

He emerged tops in the springboard individual, synchro 3m springboard with Ahmad Amsyar Azman and the 10m platform synchro with Nazreen.

KARATE

Lim Chee Wei put up a superb performance to beat his three opponents with identical 5-0 scores en route to the individual kata gold.

The 22-year-old Penangite also partnered Leong Tze Wai and Emmanuel Leong Theng Keong to beat Myanmar’s Min Hein Khant, Ko Kyaw Kyaw and Aung Song Mie 4-1 to win the kata team gold.

It was a fantastic month for Chee Wei, having bagged two bronzes in the kata individual and team events in the Asian Championships in Dubai early this month.

MUAY

Mohd Faizal Ramli was not expected to win as he was up against Myanmar’s Aung Myint Win in the 75kg final. But he stunned Myint Win to win Malaysia’s 43rd and final gold. It was a sensational win for Faizal as he strolled to a 3-0 victory to silence the partisan home crown.

It was a grand outing for the Malaysian muay team as they won two golds. Mohd Lokman Akimi Mat Roji was the other hero, clinching gold in the 51kg class with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngo Trieu Nhat.