KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 —The Malaysian contingent to the 10th Asean Para Games (APG) in the Philippines might be downsized as the competition dates clash with several international meets.
Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PMC) president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin said confirmation on the total number of athletes for the APG would be decided next month, taking into account the important tournaments for national athletes to qualify for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Initially, the national governing body had decided to send a total of 369 athletes to the Games, which was originally scheduled for January 18-24 but has been postponed to March 20-26.
“We will discuss the matter back with National Sports Council director-general, Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail and the para sports associations before announcing the final line up on Feb 13. This is because some sports such as athletics, archery and badminton will have their Paralympics qualifiers.
“We do not underestimate the APG, but our athletes need to accumulate important qualifications points. After determining the number of entries, we will set the medal target,” he told reporters after launching the Hockademy KL team, here today.
Most of the top para-athletics athletes are expected to miss the APG as the Fazza International Athletics Championships is scheduled for March 14-17 in Dubai. It is the first of eight World Grand Prix series to be held until June.
Malaysia sent the largest contingent of 331 athletes when Kuala Lumpur hosted the 9th Asean Para Games in 2017 and emerged as the runner-up, with 90 gold, behind Indonesia who amassed 126 gold medals. — Bernama
