Still a long way to go (The Malay Mail)

BANGKOK ASIAN GAMES

DON'T overdo the backslapping. Don't go overboard with the praises.
Compliments aside, we need a self-critical approach to complement the
country's sporting evolution.
 Malaysia should keep their feet on the ground and look at the Asian
Games success in the proper perspective.
 As the 13th Asiad ended yesterday, the statistics look good for the
Malaysians. They have done better than '94 Hiroshima (4-2-13) with an
overall haul of five gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals. It also
exceeded the NSC forecast of four golds, eight silver and 18 bronze.
 But we were expected to ride the Commonwealth Games momentum to Bangkok.
Did we do that?
 Of the five golds won, only two - through Lim Keng Liat (swimming) and
Nicol David (squash) - were from sports that Malaysia featured in the
Commonwealth Games.
 Karate and snooker, which provided three golds, did not benefit from the
RM129 million that NSC injected into the four-year training and
development programme for KL `98.
 In retrospect, the Malaysians went through a trying time in Bangkok and,
in fact, there was much uncertainty before the cheers came.
 From Day One, it was a struggle meeting the NSC target. Many had given
up when the gold medal tally seemed fronzen at three until karate
delivered two golden chops.
 When the dinner parties and other celebrations are over, the powers-
that-be should analyse how these medals came for Malaysia and that is
needed for the athletes to be Asian class, let alone world beaters.
 How many of the sports that shone for Malaysia in Bangkok are in the
Olympics? Do they include karate, snooker and squash?
 In this perspective, Malaysia should then concentrate on swimming and
"backstroke whiz kid" Lim Keng Liat in particular.
 Only 18, the Sabahan is bursting with potential and prospect for
Malaysia who never had an Asian swimming champion before. In Bangkok, the
US-trained Sabahan broke the stranglehold of the world class Chinese and
Japanese aces to bag the 100m backstroke gold and setting an Asian Games
record of 55.53s. He also won the 200m backstroke silver.
 With Keng Liat now ranked among the world top 10, he is definitely an
asset for Olympic glory and the leading star of NSC's training and
development programme.
 Hockey and badminton, the mainframe of Malaysian sports, have vast
potential though they did not strike gold in Bangkok. But they are in good
hands and the NSC can expect them to be reliable performers.
 But athletics, though having no lack of talent, looks hazy with no one
really able to stamp his or her class in Asia. That's a big poser for the
Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union on why Watson Nyambek and Co can't make
the quantum leap.
 It is no coincidence that the hosts always do well. Thailand proved that
"homeground advantage" does help - ballroom dancing and all that - by
winning 24 golds, 26 silvers and 40 bronzes for their best ever finish in
the series.
 And Malaysia also achieved their best ever performance when the country
organised the Commonwealth Games.
 But can we go on organising Games for the sake of improving medal tally?
Malaysia, who are bidding for the 2006 Asian Games, have to look beyond
that.
 Do we have wait for the Asiad to be staged in our own backyard in order
to achieve a major success? Even if Malaysia get to host the 2006 Asiad,
the national sport bodies still cannot be procrastinating in their
preparations and expect medals to drop onto their laps.
 Judging from the progress of Malaysian sports over the years, there is
still a lot of catching up to do. We cannot go on forever having short-
term programme for particular competitions like KL `98.
 For the Asian Games, the NSC spent about RM 2.8 million over two years
in training and preparing the athletes for Bangkok.
 A sad scenario in Malaysian sports is that more often than not, we
neglect development and long-term planning. Our knowledge is also lacking.
 Firstly we have to identify the sports that we are good at.
We actually have sports officials in the dark about the rivals - who are
our neighbours - because they did not do their homework.
 Malaysia could have managed to get a medal or two in certain events if
only team officials have been up to date on the tactics of the other
nations.
 Selection to the Malaysian team based on the third placing of the
previous Games is not good enough taking into consideration that
performances generally will improve.
 Coming to long-term planning, we should hire people to act more as
advisors to local coaches. This means the foreign coaches are not here
just to train our athletes but also at the same time impart their
expertise to local coaches.
 For the money and effort spent, these foreign coaches should leave
behind a sport foundation or a network of qualified and experienced local
coaches.
 Some of our coaches do not actually know where to start or what to look
for in identifying talents.
 We should study Malaysian sports by the individuals and earmark the
talents. It is not difficult as most of the sports do not have outstanding
athletes.
 It is not a surprise that sport associations like squash - who are
professionally managed and backed by sound development programmes - are
doing well.
 We can't be content with second or third best or "compromised targets"
anymore. No longer do we accept the "mediocrity is not bad" mentality.
 We have to make a decision. If we are to be dead serious, go for it in a
big way with proper planning and management.
 If mediocrity or flash-in-the-pan performances are accepted, we
shouldn't be wasting taxpayers' money and corporate funds especially more
so in these bad times.
 Malaysia have the potential to become a force in sports, especially when
we are multi-racial country with diverse talents. We can find talents from
the various races for each discipline to match the requirements of the
different sports.
 And that has made Malaysia the envy of other countries.
                               (END)