KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Bernama) -- After a successful outing in the recently-concluded SEA Games in Laos, the Youth and Sports Ministry now expects more from the national athletes next year.
Deputy minister Datuk Wee Jeck Seng said Malaysian's success in Laos had given a new perspective to the quality of the national athletes, especially the national Under-23 football squad who ended the country's 20-year gold drought when they edged Vietnam 1-0 in the football final.
"We should repeat this feeling of satisfaction and the joy next year even though the challenges are bigger and tougher," he said at the closing of National Sports Convention 2009 at the Putra World Trade Centre here today.
He said more success stories could be created by the national team next year as several international sport meets had been lined up, including the Commonwealth Games in India, Asian Games (China), Thomas and Uber Cup (Malaysia), Youth Olympic Games (Singapore) and Malaysia Games (Sukma).
"I believe the convention had been able to provide much help for our planning to face the challenges ahead," he said.
Wee said he also believed that the four working papers presented at the convention, including one by sport industry expert from Britain Simon Amor, had given the participants a glimpse of the challenges that awaited them at the Olympic Games 2012 and how the British prepared themselves to defend 19 gold medals which they bagged at the Beijing Olympic 2008.
"Apart from that, we have also learnt a lot from China's success in the Beijing Olympics with 51 gold, besides the fact that as of August 2009, their athletes had won 2,310 competitions in the Olympic Games and other world-class sport meets.
"In fact, their athletes had created 1,195 world records so far in line with the republic's national approach to focus on the development of elite sports," he said.
Meanwhile, National Sports Council director-general Datuk Zolkples Embong said the council believed that sports development should not be based on one or two models alone.
"What needs to be emulated is the spirit, the attitude and the determination shown by the athlete, besides their expertise in certain sports like diving and weight-lifting," he said.
When asked about the outcome of the convention, Zolkples said he was satisfied as many actions had been taken pertaining to the 100 resolutions reached at last year's convention.
"Nevertheless, there are other aspects that need to be enhanced to excel at the international level.
"I hope the six committees which have been entrusted with the responsibility to implement the resolutions will meet and discuss ways to make it happen," he said.
A total of 200 sport personalities and individuals participated in the two-day convention.
-- BERNAMA
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