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Malaysia's Sports Ended 2008 With A Bang, Says Sieh


KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25 (Bernama) -- The year 2008 witnessed many Malaysian athletes carving their name on Malaysia's sports hall of fame, Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary-general Datuk Sieh Kok Chi said today.

"Overall, the year 2008 is a very good year for Malaysia's sporting scene. We ended the year with a big bang.

"The national shuttlers won the Super Series Masters and the Malaysian contingent became the overall champion in the just-concluded Asean University Games. Malaysian athletes have competed in many competitions both locally and abroad.

"For me personally, I think the Olympic Games of course was the big event for Malaysia. Datuk Lee Chong Wei winning the silver medal in badminton is an achievement for Malaysia, particularly after two consecutive Olympic Games," Sieh told Bernama when asked for his overview of Malaysian sports this.

Besides Chong Wei in the men's singles, Malaysian shuttlers also won gold in the men's doubles and women's doubles of the Super Series Masters Finals in Kota Kinabalu on Dec 18-21 while the Malaysian contingent emerged as the overall champion at the Asean University Games with a haul of 90 gold, 78 silver and 47 bronze medals.

Sieh said other sports should also be given fair recognition.

"We must also recognise our archers and cyclists...they also did very well in the Olympics. Their prospect for the next Olympic Games in 2012 should be very good.

"And in certain sports, qualifying itself is a great achievement although medal prospect is very slim, like swimming and athletics," Sieh added.

He said that OCM and the National Sports Council (NSC) would continue to support the athletes but more focus would be given to the medal prospect sports -- badminton, archery and cycling -- for the London Olympic Games in 2012.

"We have started preparing the athletes now and it is good that we have a longer period of preparation," he said.

Sieh noted that although the Laos SEA Games would be the biggest sporting event next year there were seven other Games involving youth athletes which would provide the right platform to prepare them for the Asian and Commonwealth Games in 2010.

-- BERNAMA

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