Malaysia's Pursuit For Gold Medal In Olympics Has To Wait Until LA28

By Vikneswaran Raman and Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 (Bernama) -- The country's sports scene started the year 2024 with high hopes of ending the nearly seven-decade wait for Malaysia's first Olympic gold medal in Paris, but the dream did not come to fruition when the national contingent only managed to win two bronze medals, a far cry compared with the 2016 and 2020 editions.

Despite the various support and assistance provided, including an allocation of RM13.283 million through the Road to Gold (RTG) programme since 2023, the Malaysian contingent had returned empty-handed and will have to wait another four years to resume the mission of ending the gold drought during the 2028 Los Angeles (LA28) Olympics.

Track cycling champion Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, who had high hopes of winning gold in Paris, failed to live up to the expectations of millions of Malaysians when he crashed out early in the keirin event after the 2017 world champion overtook a 'derny' (an electric motorcycle that acts as a pacer) before the bike left the track to mark the start of the race.

After the challenge of 'The Pocket Rocketman' evaporated due to the mistake, fellow team mate Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom came out to shoulder Malaysia's hopes by advancing to the final, but a collision with Japan's Shinji Nakano just metres from the finish line, destroyed the country's hopes of winning a medal in the event at the Games.

Fortunately, badminton once again came to the rescue through the national men's doubles pair of Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and professional men's singles player Lee Zii Jia who won bronze to help Malaysia finish the Paris 2024 challenge in 80th position together with Albania, Grenada and Puerto Rico. 

Arriving in Paris as 2022 world champions and Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalists, Aaron-Wooi Yik became Malaysia's gold backing, but the pair lost to China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in the semi-finals.

However, Zii Jia, who had a shaky performance at the start of the year, managed to improve his performance ahead of the Olympics in the hunt for gold, but lost to 2023 world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the semi-finals, however, he managed to overcome Indian sensation Lakshya Sen in the third-fourth place playoff to come home with the bronze.

Before the Olympics campaign, the Malaysian badminton camp's desire to end a 32-year drought of lifting the Thomas Cup did not come to fruition when they lost to hosts China, 1-3 in the quarter-finals, while the women's squad's challenge ended as early as the group stage of the Uber Cup.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Aniq Kasdan came close to making history as the country's first weightlifter to reach the Olympic podium, but had to be blindsided by the one-kilogram difference that separated him from the podium for the men's 61kg event after lifting 297kg (130kg in the snatch event and 167kg in the clean & jerk), which eventually became the new National record.

This year continues to see the decline of several sports, including diving which for the first time in 24 years failed to have a female diver qualify for the Olympics on merit, including diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong, with only Bertrand Rhodit Lises qualifying for the men's 10m platform event.

However, Bertrand's debut only saw him finish 25th out of 26 participants in the preliminary round, while Nur Dhabitah Sabri, who was given an unused quota, finished 12th in the women's 3m springboard final, thus sending the camp home empty-handed for the second consecutive edition.

Nurqayyum Nazmi Mohamad Nazim's success in ending an 18-year medal drought at the World Junior Diving Championships with a bronze in November, however, brings little hope for the future, as well as the good performances of young divers, especially in Sarawak, during the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in August.

The men's five-a-side (5s) hockey squad got off to a flying start to the year when they emerged runners-up at the 5s World Cup in Muscat, Oman, but the success failed to feature the men's field hockey team, known as the Speedy Tigers, who put in a worrying performance. 

Sarjit Singh, who was appointed as the manager in March with the mission of strengthening the team with a new face, has yet to show positive results with Malaysia coming off as defending champions of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup to take fourth place, followed by seventh out of nine teams in the Nations Cup and bottom of six nations in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT).

The national sepak takraw team roared again by ending Thailand's dominance to emerge champions of the team event and World Cup doubles, but the 33-year wait to emerge as the team champions continued to prolong when they lost to Thailand in the final at the Titiwangsa Stadium. 

Tenpin bowling also continued to excel, especially Sin Li Jane and Esther Cheah who shone in the Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour series in the United States, winning four and one titles respectively this season. Li Jane also made history by becoming the first Asian athlete to win the PWBA Player of the Year award.

Similarly, Nor Farah Ain Abdullah, who was crowned world champion on her debut at the 2024 World Indoor Bowling Championships in Guernsey, Channel Islands last April, helped Malaysia emerge as the overall champion with a gold, silver and bronze each.

The squash scene saw national women's athlete S. Sivasangari break into the top 10 in the world in May by clinching the London Classic title by beating two of Egypt's top players - world number one Nour El Sherbini and world number two Hania El Hammamy - while men's player Ng Eain Yow has also performed well so far this year.

The SUKMA and Para SUKMA Games, from Aug 17-24 and Sept 22-28 respectively, saw Sarawak set a new benchmark with a lively event, as well as the prowess of several new talents, including Selangor swimmer Andrew Goh and Negeri Sembilan shooter Gan Chen Jie. 

Meanwhile, the performance of the national contingent that failed to meet the target of bringing home four golds at the Paris Paralympics is the main focus for this year's para games, after the national contingent brought home two golds, two silvers and one bronze from Paris.

National powerlifting champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin is clearly in a class of his own when he not only defended the gold in the men's 72kg category, but also broke the world record with a lift of 232kg to renew his game record and world record.

Badminton player Cheah Liek Hou proved his status as the world's number one SU5 (physically handicapped) men's singles champion by winning his second consecutive gold medal at the Paris Paralympics after having secured his eighth men's singles world title early in the year.

An episode of grief befell the athletics champion Datuk Abdul Latif Romly when his dream of winning a hat-trick of gold in the T20 long jump (intellectual disability) did not come true, when he had to settle for a silver medal, while Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli also had to be satisfied with the same medal color through the F20 (intellectual disability) javelin throw event this time.

Despite bringing home the bronze in the men's 100m T44 (physical disability), Eddy Bernard's achievement is still proud when a new athlete wins a Paralympic Games medal for Malaysia.

Despite the lacklustre performance, tougher competition is expected to await the national contingent to at least match the achievement at LA28, taking into account the age of the medal winners.

Only Bonnie, 25, is expected to be the main back-up to retain the gold, while there are questions about how well veterans Liek Hou, Abdul Latif and Muhammad Ziyad can shine. 

With the 2025 season just a few weeks away, all stakeholders should act quickly to improve performance, find new ideas and improve existing weaknesses in order for the country's sports scene to excel, with the hope of achieving the inaugural Olympic gold in the LA28 edition.

Throughout the cycle leading up to the 2028 Olympics, the country's athletes will be tested with the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand in a year's time, ahead of the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya and the 2026 Glasglow Commonwealth Games as well as the hosting of the 2027 SEA Games in Malaysia before facing another challenge at the most prestigious sporting event.

--BERNAMA