IT is inevitable in an Olympic year that the focus and expectations will be on the handful of Malaysian athletes who will be competing in London come July.
The athletes from the Road to London programme that was first initiated in 2009 by the Sports Ministry will reach their final destination when the Games start and it will be considered a failure if no medal is won after the months of preparation.
Carrying the main burden of snaring that elusive Olympic gold medal, which will be worth RM1mil to the winner, is shuttler Lee Chong Wei, who has been ranked No. 1 in the world since his silver medal feat at the Beijing Games.
The Penang-born shuttler has been a model of consistency in Super Series events since then and will remember 2011 as the year where he reached the World Championships final for the first time before suffering a heart-breaking defeat to arch-rival Lin Dan of China.
Chong Wei is aware he needs to work harder than ever as it is not just Lin Dan he has to worry about but the growing threat posed by Chinese youngster Chen Long.
Chong Wei lost three times to Chen Long last year and the All-England in March will be an early indicator of his prospects at the Olympics.
The Malaysian superstar has a hectic year ahead of him. Besides the Olympics, Chong Wei will be bidding for a hat-trick of wins at the All-England as well as lead Malaysia’s campaign to earn qualification for the Thomas Cup Finals in Wuhan in May.
Track cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Josiah Ng will also cherish Olympic dreams at the Olympic velodrome in London.
Azizul earned global admiration for his gutsy effort in crossing the finish line despite being badly skewered in the calf in Manchester early last year. He will be starting afresh after months of recuperation with London as his priority.
Azizul, who ended a 40-year-old cycling gold drought at the Asian Games, is back in the saddle intent on making a good start to the year at the Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur in February.
But the Malaysian, ranked world No. 1 in keirin, certainly has bigger fish to fry with the World Championships in Melbourne in April before the Olympic mission.
There is also hope that divers Pandelela Rinong, Leong Mun Yee and Bryan Nickson Lomas will challenge the world’s best at the Olympics.
Pandelela and Mun Yee stand the best chance of nicking a medal in the women’s 10m platform synchro. The hope is that they can reproduce the form that saw them taking bronze at the World Championships in Italy in 2009.
National Sports Council (NSC) director general Datuk Zolkples Embong is hoping sports like cycling, archery and diving will make a serious pitch for glory to ease the pressure on the shuttlers who have traditionally shouldered the burden alone.
“Badminton is the only sport that has given us Olympic medals but we have a bigger spread this time. Azizul and Pandelela were still young and only going for the experience when they competed in Beijing 2008. They should be better prepared for London,” he said.
Local sports rivalry will be at its passionate best when the Sukma (Malaysia Games) takes place in Kuantan but it could be overshadowed by the Euro 2012 football extravaganza in Poland and Ukraine.
The national football team will be out to bring Christmas cheer when they begin their campaign to defend the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup towards the end of the year. Malaysia are co-hosting the biennial tournament with Thailand with the final just before Christmas.
Ever reliable world No. 1 Nicol David can be expected to serve up another storming year in squash. Nicol is in the unique position of kick-starting the year with a bang as she features in the World Series Finals in London from Jan 4-8. She should, fittingly, end the year by claiming a seventh World Open title in Cayman Islands in December.
Who better than the nation’s greatest champion to provide the perfect inspiration for our Olympics-bound heroes.
No comments:
Post a Comment