In victorious company: Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh (centre) posing with (from left) squash players Ivan Yuen, Rachel Arnold, Aifa Azman, chef de mission Datuk Chong Kim Fatt, Mohd Syafiq Kamal and Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia director Mejar (Rtd) S. Maniam.
THE Road to Gold (RTG) may take a new turning, with a couple of new sports getting the nod, thanks to their success at the Asian Games.
The RTG committee, tasked with overseeing excellence in the Olympics, are now looking at including sailing and equestrian in the programme.
The “Olympic hopeful” sports of squash, which delivered three golds and a silver in Hangzhou, is also likely to get special funding, said Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh.
Sailor Nur Shazrin Abdul Latif won Malaysia’s first gold at the Games when she won the ILCA 6, while Qabil Ambak won Malaysia’s first dressage gold in the Games.
Shazrin has qualified for the Olympics after winning gold in Hangzhou, while Qabil has to secure one of the top two Asian rankings by Dec 31 to qualify for Paris 2024.
“We will look at including them in the Road to Gold. We will meet on Oct 12 to discuss what can be done,” she said.
“We also want to assess how other nations have gone forward in terms of development, based on their performances in the Asian Games.”
Hannah also said successful non-Olympic sports will be helped.
“We would look to give them additional support. Maybe we can fund overseas training stints or get them to more competitions. They are the best in Asia and let’s make them even better, world-class,” she said.
Hannah, who arrived in Hangzhou on Thursday, was delighted to see the Malaysian contingent surpassing their target of 27 medals. They now have 28 medals, five of them gold – one from sailing, one from equestrian and the three from squash.
“We will head home, research all the results and see how to further improve them in future games. In the next Asiad, we want to turn bronzes into silvers and silvers into gold.
“The golds, we want to retain them. We want to improve in terms of support and resources. We want to ensure the athletes stay consistent and look to do well in every tournament. We should not only look to win once.”
