KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — The Malaysian contingent is confident of bringing home at least 16 gold medals from the Asean Para Games (APG) in Solo, Indonesia, despite not being officially targeted.

Malaysia’s chef de mission (CDM) Colonel (Rtd) Md Nor Azam Ariffin said the confidence was based on the experience and capabilities possessed by the country’s senior athletes at the Games scheduled from July 30 to August 6.

“However, it also depends on the number of actual events that can only be known when arriving in Solo, as events are sometimes dropped or merged at the last minute in the championship. Secondly, our athletes have not competed at the regional level for five years since APG 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, “ he said after handing over the Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian contingent to the APG and Islamic Solidarity Games 2021 in Konya, Turkey, here today.

Malaysia is bringing 73 athletes (64 men and nine women), much lower than the more than 300 athletes in 2017.

At APG 2017, Malaysia took second place with 90 gold, 85 silver and 83 bronze, but the Games were not organised for the 2019 edition in the Philippines which should be held in early 2020 and the 2021 edition in Vietnam was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Indonesia took up the host role for 11th APG this year.

Malaysia’s best achievement at APG was when it hosted the inaugural edition in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, in which the national contingent emerged overall champions with 132 gold, 126 silver and 87 bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker said 30 per cent, or 22 national athletes this time were new athletes who would be making their debut at the Games.

He said Malaysia would take part in 91 events covering 11 of the 14 sports competed in Solo, namely badminton, boccia, sit -down volleyball, chess, goalball, table tennis, athletics, archery, swimming, powerlifting and wheelchair tennis.

“Initially we have no plans to join APG this time after Vietnam’s withdrawal as host, with the training and preparation programme of athletes focused on the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou which has now been postponed to next year.

“After Indonesia agreed to host at the last minute, we still have no plans to participate. However, taking into account the solidarity of para sportsmen in the region, we finally agreed to participate, but no specific medal target was set, “he said.

Ti also announced wheelchair athletes for the F55 shot put event Mohd Zikri Zakaria and SEA Games 2017 sprint king Khairul Hafiz Jantan would be the bearers of the Jalur Gemilang at the APG and the Islamic Solidarity Games scheduled from Aug 9 to 18.

Earlier, he handed over the Jalur Gemilang to Md Nor Azam and National Sports Council deputy director-general Abdul Rashid Yaakob as CDM to Konya.

For the Islamic Solidarity Games, Malaysia will be represented by 56 athletes in seven sports — athletics, archery, karate, rhythmic gymnastics, cycling, taekwondo and traditional archery. — Bernama