PETALING JAYA: Malaysia arrived in Glasgow with one of their smallest Commonwealth Games contingents but left with one of their biggest success stories by surpassing expectations in every medal category.
The nation raked in an impressive haul of eight gold, three silver and five bronze medals to finish 10th in the overall medal standings.
The eight-gold haul is the country's best achievement in 16 years, exceeding its Birmingham 2022 tally by one gold.
The best ever achievement is still at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 where Malaysia won 12 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals.
But what makes this outing even more significant is that it was accomplished by a much smaller contingent of 59 athletes, including 22 para athletes.
Malaysia competed in only eight of the 10 sports and 63 of the 215 medal events.
Chef de mission Datuk Awalan Abdul Aziz said the result was a testament to the athletes who gave their all to bring success to the country.
"Credit must go to the athletes and also the coaches. Whether they won medals or not, we saw here that every athlete gave their all and did their best for Malaysia," said Awalan.
"Although the overall medal tally was lower than the 23 won at Birmingham four years ago, our campaign in Glasgow can be considered more efficient given the size of the contingent and the number of events contested," said Awalan.
In Birmingham, Malaysia sent 105 athletes to compete in 15 sports and 96 events, returning home with seven gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals.
Awalan credited National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institute (NSI), Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM), Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and the national sports associations.
"The success would not have been possible without solid support from all the parties," he said.
"I also want to express my appreciation to the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation (MWF) for the outstanding performance of the weightlifters, who contributed almost half of the country's overall medal haul.
"Hopefully, what we achieved here will boost the self belief of the athletes as they prepare for the upcoming Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya after this."
Weightlifting contributed five gold, one silver and one bronze medal from nine athletes fielded.
The five gold medallists were Aniq Kasdan (men's 60kg), Aznil Bidin (65kg), Mohd Erry Hidayat (79kg), Hafizuddin Roslin (88kg) and Syahmi Nor Ghazali (94kg).
Judo exponent Amir Daniel Abdul Majeed also made history by winning Malaysia's first-ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in the sport after triumphing in the below 81kg category.
Former world keirin champion Azizulhasni Awang also roared in his final appearance at the Games to win the men's keirin title that had eluded him all these years.
Paralympic champion Abdul Latif Romly also made history by winning the first ever men's T20 long jump category contested at the Commonwealth Games.
It was a bittersweet outing for the lawn bowlers who missed out on gold but contributed two silver and two bronze medals.
Izzat Shameer Dzulkeple became the first Malaysian lawn bowler to win a medal in the men's singles after claiming silver but reigning World Cup champion Emma Firyana Saroji had to return empty handed after finishing fourth in the women's singles.
The next Commonwealth Games will take place in Ahmedabad, India and expected to feature at least 17 sports.
With more sports and athletes, we should deliver more!
