KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) is expected to finalise the list of athletes for the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam, by early March.

National athletics head coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil said MAF would send the final name list to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), who would then submit it to the SEA Games organisers before the March 12 closing date.

He said MAF had not yet confirmed any athletes for the Vietnam outing although the National Athletics Championships on December 18-19 was a selection platform for the biennial Games.

However, he said there were some athletes who won their events at the national meet and could be considered for selection as they had beaten the SEA Games qualifying marks.

They included two female athletes, Queenie Ting Kung Ni (discus) and Grace Wong (hammer throw), and Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismail (100 metres) and Iskandar Alwi (pole vault), he said when contacted by Bernama today.

"However, (even) the names mentioned earlier have not officially qualified because the coaching staff still have time to assess the performance of athletes in several competitions to be organised before next year’s SEA Games,” he said.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that MAF planned to provide at least three tournaments to national athletes in preparation for the Hanoi SEA Games, which will be held from May 12-23 next year.

Commenting on the performances seen at the national championships, Mohd Manshahar admitted that the inclement weather, especially on the first day, prevented athletes from doing better in track and field events.

"Overall, the weather factor was disruptive for the athletes but I am still satisfied with their performances. In fact, some adapted well to the wet conditions,” he said. — Bernama