By Datuk Sieh Kok Chi
26th SEA Games 2011
An analysis of Malaysia’s Performance at the SEA Games
From Indonesia 1997 to Indonesia 2011
The Malaysian Contingent comprising Athletes – 372 male athletes and 235 female athletes making a total of 607athletes, out of which 352 athletes are in Category A and 255 are in Category B. Officials – 196 male officials and 19 female officials making a total of 215 team officials (excluding CDM and supporting staff), out of which 139 officials are in Category A and 70 are in Category B. The Contingent won 59 gold medals, 50 silver medals and 81 bronze medals to finish in 4th position based on gold medal tally, surpassing both the NSC’s target of 45 gold medals, OCM’s target of 55 gold medals and one short of the NSAs’ target of 60 gold medals. The performance of the Malaysian Contingent was truly outstanding and demonstrated the true ‘Malaysia Boleh’ spirit.
Out of the 39 sports, the Malaysian Contingent participated in, 13 sports won gold medals. The four disciplines of Aquatics, namely Diving won 7 gold medals, Synchronized Swimming won 5 gold medals, Swimming won 5 gold medals and Open Water Swimming won 2 gold medals. Track Cycling winning 7 gold medals, Athletics winning 6 gold and Tenpin Bowling winning 5 gold medals were also very outstanding. Karate with 4 gold medals, Water Ski with 4 gold medals, Pencak Silat and Wushu, each winning 3 gold medals, Archery, Fencing and Shooting each winning 2 gold medals, with Football and Snooker each winning 1 gold medal each, were the other outstanding sports. 8 other sports won silver and bronze medals, while 10 sports won bronze medals only. In total, 31 sports out of the 39 sports won medals at the 26th SEA Games.
The 8 sports that did not win any medals are Baseball, Bridge, Shorinji Kempo, Softball, Table Tennis, Tennis, and Volleyball. Baseball, Shorinji Kempo, Softball (men’s & women’s team) and Water Polo (men’s & women’s teams) were defeated in all their matches. The Men’s Indoor Volleyball team won one match (against Cambodia) and lost 4 matches. The Men’s Bridge team drew one match and lost all the rest. All the above except for the Women’s Water Polo participated under Category B.
The table below shows that, excluding the 2001 SEA Games, when Malaysia was the host, the Malaysian Contingents have been consistently winning around 10% of the gold medals at stake, since the 1997 SEA Games. The highest was at the 1999 Brunei Darussalam SEA Games, with 24.78% and the lowest was at the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games, with 9.68%.
Another important point to note is that the sports of Swimming, Diving, Athletics, Tenpin Bowling, Cycling, Gymnastics, Karate, Pencak Silat, Sailing, Shooting, and Wushu have been very consistent in winning gold medals, for the period 1997 to 2011. Squash is another sport which won many gold medals, whenever it is included in the programme. Thus to maintain the gold winning pattern of the Malaysian Contingent, it is important to ensure that the above sports continue to deliver the gold medals in future SEA Games, and also to identify and develop a few more sports that could contribute gold medals.
Position 3 2 1 5 4 2 4 4
The above table also shows that gold medal tallies of a few sports have been dropping over the last few SEA Games. The decline is due to external and internal reasons, the external reason being the improvements made by other SEA Games countries (especially Vietnam) and the internal reason being the sports concerned are facing difficulties to identify and train up new and young talents. Athletics and Gymnastics are faced with such challenges and need to take some concrete and concerted efforts to reverse the trend.
Sports which have the potential to do better are Equestrian, Sailing, Shooting, Taekwondo, and Weightlifting. With the non-inclusion of Synchronized Swimming, Tenpin Bowling, Gymnastics and most probably Track Cycling in the 27th SEA Games in 2013, Malaysia will be hard pressed to maintain its target of 10% of the total number of gold medals at stake.
The preliminary list of sports announced by the Myanmar Olympic Committee are Athletics, Shooting, Canoe, Kayak, Wushu, Silat, Taekwondo, Billiards & Snooker, Sailing, Cycling, Tennis, Swimming, Rowing, Karate, Traditional Boat Race, Judo, Boxing, Weightlifting, Archery, Chess, Table Tennis, Badminton, Golf, Volleyball, Futsal, Football, Equestrian, Bodybuilding, Basketball, and Muay Thai.
From the above list of sports, the Malaysian Contingent for Myanmar in 2013 will have to work harder to maintain its 10% target. Based on statistics, Malaysia has never won a gold medal at the SEA Games in Canoe/Kayak, Chess, Rowing, Traditional Boat Race, Muay Thai and Volleyball. Tennis won a gold medal only once, which was in 1973 and the last time Judo won a gold medal was in 1981.
One of the reasons for the success at the SEA Games for the period from 1997 till today, is the well-funded intensive sports development programme carried out for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. The spill-over from the above programme has benefitted sports. Since more than 10 years have passed and with the separation of MSN and ISN, better and more effective programmes should be introduced soon. OCM and the NSAs should also commence preparation for the 27th SEA Games 2013, by carrying out an in-depth study of the performance of the Malaysian Contingent at the 26th SEA Games, identify the weakness and issues and propose new plans, strategies and programmes to prepare the athletes and teams as soon as possible.
On the setting of targets, the present practice of setting them a few months before the SEA Games commences, is too ad hoc. To me, it appears to be more a guessing exercise then serious target setting, which prompted Y.Bhg. Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad to state in his weekly column in Utusan Malaysia “Sukan SEA XXVI Inndonesia, sasaran atau ramalan”. Targets by sports for the 27th SEA Games should be set well in advance and made public. A monitoring system should be introduced and regular assessment of the chances of achieving the targets in December 2013 should be carried and corrections, where appropriate and necessary should be made during the 2 years.
26th SEA Games 2011
An analysis of Malaysia’s Performance at the SEA Games
From Indonesia 1997 to Indonesia 2011
The Malaysian Contingent comprising Athletes – 372 male athletes and 235 female athletes making a total of 607athletes, out of which 352 athletes are in Category A and 255 are in Category B. Officials – 196 male officials and 19 female officials making a total of 215 team officials (excluding CDM and supporting staff), out of which 139 officials are in Category A and 70 are in Category B. The Contingent won 59 gold medals, 50 silver medals and 81 bronze medals to finish in 4th position based on gold medal tally, surpassing both the NSC’s target of 45 gold medals, OCM’s target of 55 gold medals and one short of the NSAs’ target of 60 gold medals. The performance of the Malaysian Contingent was truly outstanding and demonstrated the true ‘Malaysia Boleh’ spirit.
Out of the 39 sports, the Malaysian Contingent participated in, 13 sports won gold medals. The four disciplines of Aquatics, namely Diving won 7 gold medals, Synchronized Swimming won 5 gold medals, Swimming won 5 gold medals and Open Water Swimming won 2 gold medals. Track Cycling winning 7 gold medals, Athletics winning 6 gold and Tenpin Bowling winning 5 gold medals were also very outstanding. Karate with 4 gold medals, Water Ski with 4 gold medals, Pencak Silat and Wushu, each winning 3 gold medals, Archery, Fencing and Shooting each winning 2 gold medals, with Football and Snooker each winning 1 gold medal each, were the other outstanding sports. 8 other sports won silver and bronze medals, while 10 sports won bronze medals only. In total, 31 sports out of the 39 sports won medals at the 26th SEA Games.
The 8 sports that did not win any medals are Baseball, Bridge, Shorinji Kempo, Softball, Table Tennis, Tennis, and Volleyball. Baseball, Shorinji Kempo, Softball (men’s & women’s team) and Water Polo (men’s & women’s teams) were defeated in all their matches. The Men’s Indoor Volleyball team won one match (against Cambodia) and lost 4 matches. The Men’s Bridge team drew one match and lost all the rest. All the above except for the Women’s Water Polo participated under Category B.
The table below shows that, excluding the 2001 SEA Games, when Malaysia was the host, the Malaysian Contingents have been consistently winning around 10% of the gold medals at stake, since the 1997 SEA Games. The highest was at the 1999 Brunei Darussalam SEA Games, with 24.78% and the lowest was at the 2003 Vietnam SEA Games, with 9.68%.
Another important point to note is that the sports of Swimming, Diving, Athletics, Tenpin Bowling, Cycling, Gymnastics, Karate, Pencak Silat, Sailing, Shooting, and Wushu have been very consistent in winning gold medals, for the period 1997 to 2011. Squash is another sport which won many gold medals, whenever it is included in the programme. Thus to maintain the gold winning pattern of the Malaysian Contingent, it is important to ensure that the above sports continue to deliver the gold medals in future SEA Games, and also to identify and develop a few more sports that could contribute gold medals.
YEAR | 1977 | 1999 | 2001 | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 | 2013 |
HOST COUNTRY | INA | BRU | MAS | VIE | PHI | THA | LAO | INA | MYA |
Aquatics |
Swimming | 4 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 5 | Yes |
Diving | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | Yes |
Syn. Swimming | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 5 | No |
Open Water | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | No |
Archery | 0 | - | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Yes |
Athletics | 16 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | Yes |
Badminton | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
Billiards Sport | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Yes |
Bowling Tenpin | 5 | 7 | 7 | - | 3 | 4 | - | 5 | No |
Boxing | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
Cycling | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 | Yes |
Equestrian | - | - | 5 | - | 1 | 4 | - | 0 | Yes |
Football | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Yes |
Gymnastics | 5 | - | 16 | 9 | 10 | 2 | - | 0 | No |
Karate | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | Yes |
Pencak Silat | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Yes |
Sailing | 2 | - | 5 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 0 | Yes |
Shooting | 4 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Yes |
Squash | 4 | 4 | 4 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | No |
Taekwondo | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
Weightlifting | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
Wushu | 2 | - | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Yes |
From other sports | 5 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 6 |
Total gold medals won | 55 | 57 | 111 | 43 | 61 | 68 | 40 | 59 |
Total gold medals | 438 | 230 | 392 | 444 | 444 | 477 | 372 | 554 |
% of gold medals won | 12.56 | 24.78 | 28.32 | 9.68 | 13.74 | 14.25 | 10.75 | 10.65 |
Total no. of sports | 34 | 21 | 32 | 32 | 40 | 43 | 25 | 43 |
Position 3 2 1 5 4 2 4 4
The above table also shows that gold medal tallies of a few sports have been dropping over the last few SEA Games. The decline is due to external and internal reasons, the external reason being the improvements made by other SEA Games countries (especially Vietnam) and the internal reason being the sports concerned are facing difficulties to identify and train up new and young talents. Athletics and Gymnastics are faced with such challenges and need to take some concrete and concerted efforts to reverse the trend.
Sports which have the potential to do better are Equestrian, Sailing, Shooting, Taekwondo, and Weightlifting. With the non-inclusion of Synchronized Swimming, Tenpin Bowling, Gymnastics and most probably Track Cycling in the 27th SEA Games in 2013, Malaysia will be hard pressed to maintain its target of 10% of the total number of gold medals at stake.
The preliminary list of sports announced by the Myanmar Olympic Committee are Athletics, Shooting, Canoe, Kayak, Wushu, Silat, Taekwondo, Billiards & Snooker, Sailing, Cycling, Tennis, Swimming, Rowing, Karate, Traditional Boat Race, Judo, Boxing, Weightlifting, Archery, Chess, Table Tennis, Badminton, Golf, Volleyball, Futsal, Football, Equestrian, Bodybuilding, Basketball, and Muay Thai.
From the above list of sports, the Malaysian Contingent for Myanmar in 2013 will have to work harder to maintain its 10% target. Based on statistics, Malaysia has never won a gold medal at the SEA Games in Canoe/Kayak, Chess, Rowing, Traditional Boat Race, Muay Thai and Volleyball. Tennis won a gold medal only once, which was in 1973 and the last time Judo won a gold medal was in 1981.
One of the reasons for the success at the SEA Games for the period from 1997 till today, is the well-funded intensive sports development programme carried out for the 1998 Commonwealth Games. The spill-over from the above programme has benefitted sports. Since more than 10 years have passed and with the separation of MSN and ISN, better and more effective programmes should be introduced soon. OCM and the NSAs should also commence preparation for the 27th SEA Games 2013, by carrying out an in-depth study of the performance of the Malaysian Contingent at the 26th SEA Games, identify the weakness and issues and propose new plans, strategies and programmes to prepare the athletes and teams as soon as possible.
On the setting of targets, the present practice of setting them a few months before the SEA Games commences, is too ad hoc. To me, it appears to be more a guessing exercise then serious target setting, which prompted Y.Bhg. Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad to state in his weekly column in Utusan Malaysia “Sukan SEA XXVI Inndonesia, sasaran atau ramalan”. Targets by sports for the 27th SEA Games should be set well in advance and made public. A monitoring system should be introduced and regular assessment of the chances of achieving the targets in December 2013 should be carried and corrections, where appropriate and necessary should be made during the 2 years.
1 comment:
A good analysis from OCM, but it is found to benot that satisfactory is the increasing number of traditional sports, emphatically installed to gain more Golds. This, I think is bad for countries which do not train or plan to train.
One more obvious weakness of our OCM reps are to just accept the host country's prop-up of sports, never heard of in Malaysia. Dtk Sieh has once commented as to the quick formation of NSA's to pick andtrain for the Vietnam Games 2003. We in Malaysia are sport-loving people and wish to get the chance to participate in the Biennial Games as a line towards development or even as a catalyst.
I still feel that OCM can stand out and protest the numerous absurd inclusions of these 'awkward' s ports and then claim to have Malaysians not performed up to themark.
Look at Synchronised swimming. it was noteven supported by a top OCM official in 1994 to be trained for the 1998 Comm.Games in KL, yet now, we sweep all the Golds in this region. Then, why should we, OCM or Malaysia take to funny sports by Vietnam, as termed by an OCM official after the 2002 SEAG Federation meeting .
Please do encourage active sports to develop from the 20-24 Olympic-ASIAD games bound, rather than nodding for the awkwards and absurds, unlisted yet turned into a festival of Cultural rather than Competitive High-pPerformance sports in the ASEAN region. Let us see if 2013 Myanmar Games bring in funny events to unstage others.
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