The pursuit for gold medals at the 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games slowed for Malaysia when only two gold medals were delivered on the sixth day of games competed among 46 Muslim countries.
The national contingent's medal haul of the day were two gold, two silver and eight bronze.
Malaysia also lost one rung in the medal tally to the fifth position with an overall collection of 14 gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze.
The host country, Indonesia returned to top the table with 25 gold, 24 silver and 22 bronze edging Egypt to second place with 22 gold, 20 silver and 23 bronze.
Turkey maintained its third position with 18 gold, 23 silver and 30 bronze while Iran pushed Malaysia off the fourth position with 15 gold, 11 silver and eight bronze.
The swimming squad continued to be the main gold medal contributor when it yielded another two gold medals through the women's 200m breaststroke and the men's 800m freestyle relay.
The national athletics team won two bronze through Rayzman Shah Wan Sofian in the men's 110m hurdle clocking 13.97s and Raja Nursheena Raja Azhar in the women's 100m hurdle with a time of 13.98s.
The national women's volleyball squad also collected a bronze in the beach volleyball event at the Jakabaring Beach Volleyball court.
Malaysia's medal hopes tomorrow are in badminton, wushu and taekwondo..
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Malaysia fished out two more gold medals from the swimming pool to surpass the medal target set for the Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG), Palembang, yesterday.
The two gold medals won raised the total number of gold medals won by the Malaysian contingent to five, well past the three-gold target set earlier.
With five gold, three silver, seven bronze, Malaysia are currently in fifth spot behind overall leader Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran.
After a slow start, host Indonesia took a giant step forward and disposed Egypt from top spot by winning 10 gold, 5 silver, 12 bronze while Egypt with a tally of 9-10-9 are in second while Turkey with (8-7-14) are third ahead of Iran with (6-6-2).
In today's action, swimming has the biggest contributor with two gold and two bronze medals with gold medals coming from Daniel Bego in the men's 200m Freestyle and Khoo Chai Lin in the women's 400m medley.
Daniel Bego clocked 1:51.36s to win his event while Chai Lin clocked 4:55.49s to win her event.
The two bronze medals were won by Yap see Tuan from the men's 50m Breastroke with a time of and Kevin Yap Soon Choy through the men's 200m Freestyle.
Apart from swimming, Malaysia collected another two bronze medals from athletics which opened its doors at the Jaka Baring Stadium today while karate failed to produce any medal winning performances from the men's and women's Kumite.
In athletics, back up squad athlete Nauraj Singh Randhawa, 21, cleared 2.18m for the bronze in high jump while Iran's Keyvan Ghanbar cleared 2.20m for the gold medal on count back since Syria's Majd Eddin Ghazal had also cleared the height of 2.20m.
Thursday, Malaysia's medal hopes will hinge on badminton, athletics and swimming.
Team Malaysia’s badminton men’s team too strong for Azerbaijan with a 5-0 win, the Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG) III 2013, Palembang in South Sumatra.
Match took place on the field two Sports Hall Dempo Jakabaring Sport City Complex (JSC) Palembang, on Monday, the son of Malaysia’s badminton team too strong for Azerbaijan which only lowers the four players who registered with the committee. single player
Malaysia comprising Goh Giap Chim, Mohd Nur Azriyin bin Ayub, and Yee Chong Huan, too strong for single player Azerbaijan, namely Musayep Karim, Rzayep Right, and Rasulov Hurai.
At first single beat Malaysia Goh Giap Chim first single Musayep Azerbaijan Karim ; 21-5 and 21-2.
Second single Malaysian Ayub Nur Mohd Bin Azriyin Rzayep Right ahead of 21-8 and 21-7. Third-party single Malaysian Yee Chong Huan easy win over Rasulov Hurai with a score of 21-4 and 21-2.
Malaysian men’s doubles Low Juan Shen – Tan Kiang Meng won two straight sets of pairs Abbasov of Azerbaijan Teymur – Musayep Karim 21-4 and 21-12.
Two Malaysian men’s doubles Yew Hong Khen – HEG Nelson Wei Keat win over Azerbaijan couples Rasulov Turai – Rzayep Right, 21-8 and 21 – 8.
National Karate exponent Lim Chee Wei gave Malaysia its first gold medal of the Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG) by winning the Men's Individual Kata at the Sriwijaya Promotion Center, near here, today.
Chee Wei overwhelmed the judges with his dazzling and energetic performance to collect five full points and overcome Djaafer Islam from Algeria while the bronze medal went to Turkey's Mehmet Yakan and Ibrahim Magdy Moussa Aly Hassanin Ahmed from Egypt.
"I am delighted with the win and the fact that it was the first gold medal for the country, makes me very proud. I hope my win will inspire others to follow suit.
"I am confident that other athletes in the Malaysian contingent will also work hard to win medals for the country," he told Bernama, today.
The exponent from Penang said he felt a little nervous at the start since he was only replacing the injured Ricky Leong Tze Wai, the favourite in the event, but once he started his routine, he felt confident.
Ricky who suffered an injury during training which needed nine stitches, had to be replaced one day before the competition and Chee Wei was the obvious choice.
Chee Wei who immediately attributed the win to Ricky also wished him a speedy recovery.
"This gold medal does not belong to me but the all Malaysians instead," said Chee Wei whose next target will be the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games in December..
The national contingent to the third Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG) in Palembang, Indonesia will be on a mission to hunt for medals as well as being the last test for athletes prior to the Myanmar SEA Games in December.
ISG will officially start tomorrow until Oct 2 at the Jakabaring Sports Complex which was the venue for the SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia in 2011.
National Sports Council (MSN) director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong said it was important for all national athletes regardless of their status to go all out for a medal at ISG.
"Even though, a large portion of the national athletes to Palembang comprise second liners, I believe they are capable of achieving the three gold medal target set," he told Bernama here Saturday.
Malaysia are looking at clinching gold through swimming, wushu and karate.
"If our athletes are focused, I think it would not be impossible for them to return home with more than three gold medals," he said.
In the first ISG at Saudi Arabia in 2005, Malaysia was placed seventh out of 57 Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries after they won five gold medals, five silver and six bronze medals.
The second games scheduled Tehran, Iran in 2010 was cancelled by the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation when the host country failed to provide the appropriate facilities.
Malaysia will be sending 136 athletes to participate in 10 of the 13 sports in ISG namely swimming, athletics, badminton, beach volleyball, karate, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting, archery and wushu.
The national contingent will not be competing in football, basketball and indoor volleyball..
Swimmer Daniel Bego turned 24 Wednesday with one birthday wish – to win at least a gold medal in the third edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Palembang, which begins on Sunday.
The Miri-born swimmer was the hero in the inaugural Islamic Solidarity Games in Saudi Arabia in 2005, winning two of the five gold medals.
He won the men’s 200m and 400m freestyle. Malaysia's other gold medals came from diving (two) and karate (one).
The second Islamic Solidarity Games in Tehran, Iran, in 2010 were cancelled due to a dispute between the host and Saudi Arabia over the use of the name “Persian Gulf”.
Daniel will compete in three events this time – 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle.
Although it was his birthday, Daniel continued to train twice in preparation for the Games.
“There was no break for me on my birthday as my coach Paul Birmingham wants me to be fit and stay focused on the Games,” said Daniel, who skipped the 2011 Indonesia SEA Games to undergo surgery to both his shoulders.
He only resumed training last November and competed in the World University Games in Kazan in July, where he achieved the season best in the 100m and 200m freestyles by clocking 50.80 and 1:51.10 respectively.
Daniel, who holds both the 100m (50.16) and 200m (1:49.22) freestyle national records, said that he would be more than happy to return home with at least a gold medal as “I’m not sure of the strength of the other swimmers”.
A total of 137 Malaysian athletes will compete in 10 of the 13 sports at the Islamic Solidarity Games, which will end on Oct 1.
The sports are athletics, archery, badminton, beach volleyball, karate, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting and wushu. Malaysia will not feature in basketball, football and volleyball.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin told the athletes to give their best at the Games.
“The Games will also be a good platform for our athletes in preparation for the Myanmar SEA Games,” he said after handing over the Jalur Gemilang to Palembang Islamic Solidarity Games chef de mission Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.
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The Islamic Solidarity Games should not be merely used as a means to earn a ticket to this year’s SEA Games.
“I understand that while these Games are being used to qualify for the SEA Games, they should in no way, shape or form be taken lightly,” said chef de mission Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omar Din on Friday during his visit to the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil to oversee the preparations in weightlifting, athletics, karate and taekwondo.
Malaysia will be sending a 193-strong contingent for the Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Palembang, Indonesia, from Sept 22-Oct 1. The contingent will consist of 139 athletes and 54 officials who will compete in 10 of the 13 sports on offer with four of them – karate, taekwando, wushu and swimming – earmarked to be Malaysia’s best bet of landing medals.
While many of the athletes competing in the Games are still seeking to qualify for the SEA Games in Myanmar this December, Megat said it should not take away from the Islamic competition.
“These Games will feature formidable opponents from 56 participating Islamic nations and will provide them with a high-level competition and exposure. The athletes should look at the Games as the perfect ground to test their mettle ahead of the SEA Games and try and win a medal for their country,” he added.
As previously reported, Malaysia has set a meagre three-gold target for these games.
“We’re still keeping the target at three golds. We don’t want to set lofty goals. You have to be realistic and not get over-ambitious in situations like this,” said Megat.
In the inaugural meet in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 2005, Malaysia finished seventh out of 32 countries on the medal standings after taking home 16 medals – five gold, five silver and six bronze.
The five gold medals came courtesy of diving, swimming and karate.
“But, I believe our athletes will rise to the occasion and perform better than that. I’m confident our athletes can deliver and possibly even better our previous medal haul,” he said.
This will be only the second time the Islamic Solidarity Games are being held. There was supposed to be a second edition in Teheran, Iran, in 2010, but it was cancelled..
