PETALING JAYA: It is hard to keep the motivation going when there is really nothing much to aim for in the calendar year.
The exclusion of table tennis from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was a blow to the national paddlers who had been hoping for a chance to contribute medals for the country.
National head coach Beh Lee Wei is hoping the paddlers will get a chance to compete at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya instead.
The final decision though lies in the hands of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the National Sports Council (NSC).
The national team did not compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago as they were not considered medal prospects.
Lee Wei felt the paddlers need to compete at the Asiad from Sept 19-Oct 4 to earn crucial Olympic qualification points for Los Angeles 2028.
“Table tennis has been dropped from the Glasgow Games, so we hope to compete in Asiad,” said Lee Wei.
“We have to wait for OCM and NSC to make a decision. We will try to get a medal there and earn ranking points.
“We’ve fewer points compared to Singapore. Our players also lack (international) tournament exposure compared to them. Ideally, I hope we can bring a full team of eight players so we can compete in all the events.”
The events are men’s and women’s singles, doubles and team, as well as a mixed doubles event.
Malaysia have yet to win a medal in Asian Games, dominated by world powerhouses like China, Japan and South Korea.
However, Malaysia managed to make a breakthrough at the Asian Championships stage when Javen Choong and Wong Qi Shen won bronze in the men’s doubles event in Kazakhstan two years ago.
