Our women shine on the track and in badminton

ATHLETICS and badminton were two sports that saw Malaysian women shine at the just concluded SEA Games in the Philippines. 

Athletics which has always produced medals for the nation did not disappoint, contributing eight golds – five of them by women – and all in events once the domain of the Thais. 

Among the women who shone were Roslinda Samsu, Siti Shahida Abdullah and Ngew Sin Mei who also set new Games records in pole vault, hammer and triple jump. 

The other two were won by Moh Siew Wei in the 110m hurdles and Yuan Yufang in the 20km walk. The men who contributed the golds were Mohd Shahrul Haizy (20km walk), Shahadan Jamaludin (400m hurdles) and Mohd Robani Hassan (110m hurdles). 

This is not only a good sign for the sport whose overseeing body is riddled with internal bickering, but also gives hope that Malaysia can be back to being a regional powerhouse in athletics. 

The Thais, who dominated athletics through their women, have begun to lose their lustre, only winning 11 of the 42 gold on offer. 

Besides Malaysia and Thailand, Vietnam collected eight golds, the hosts seven, Myanmar four, Singapore three and Indonesia only one. 

In badminton, the performance of our women players gave a breath of new life to take Malaysia to greater heights in future. 

The doubles pair of Chin Ee Hui-Wong Pei Tty surpassed expectations by beating favourites Jo Novita-Greysia Polii of Indonesia for the gold medal in the individuals event. 

However, Wong Mew Choo could not do the same when she fell to Indonesia's Adrianti Firdasari in the final. 

Chin Eu-Pei Tty's feat also ended a 30-year long wait for Malaysia to win back the gold medal in the event. The last time they did was through the pair of Rosalind Singha Ang-Slyvia Ng at the 1975 Games in Bangkok. – Bernama