Khairy targets more than six golds for Commonwealth Games

TUESDAY, JANUARY 2 KUALA LUMPUR- Release of Purchasing Managers Index at 1015 (0215 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR- Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin(pic) attends meeting session with MyCorps: Mission 5@Africa volunteers at International Youth Centre, Jalan Yaacob Latif at 1500 (0700 GMT)

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian contingent for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are expected to deliver more than six gold medals.

Youth and Sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that Malaysia needed more than six gold medals to meet its target of finishing in the top 10 standings in the Games that starts from April 4-15.

“The target under the Podium Programme is to finish in the top 10,” said Khairy during the official flag handing ceremony on Tuesday.

“So based on that, we definitely need to win more gold medals than the Glasgow 2014 Games.”

At the Glasgow Games, Malaysia finished with a tally of 6-7-6.

The gold medals then came through Mohd Hafifi Mansor (weightlifting), Nicol David (squash), Ooi Tze Liang (diving), Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei (badminton - women’s doubles), Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (badminton men’s doubles) and the mixed team gold in badminton.

Badminton is once again expected to deliver the lion’s share of the gold medals with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) having set a three-gold target.

The other gold medals are expected to come from squash, diving, cycling and lawn bowls.

Meanwhile triple jumper Muhd Hakimi Ismail was named as the flag-bearer for the Gold Coast Games.

“It’s a consensus from all parties. Hakimi has shown a lot of improvement coming back from injury to qualify for the Games,” said Khairy.

“We don’t just want to pick a popular athlete. We want someone who is showing the right quality to get the recognition.”

A total of 178 Malaysian athletes will compete at the Games. Most of them will depart on March 31.