Malaysian sailing- target four golds at SEA Games

by New Straits Times online on 22 Nov 2005 Four gold medals is the bold prediction of the Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA), and judging by racing results this year, it can be done.

Runner-up in the Optimist team event of the World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland in August, MYA can also say that they have the best female Optimist sailor (Rufina Tan) in the Southeast Asian region.And come Nov 26 at the Subic Bay Yatch Club in Olongapo City in Manila, the sailors will be gunning for four gold medals.

In fact, by MYA’s standards, the four gold target is lower as the team delivered five gold medals when the sport was last contested at the 2001 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.In fact, the team is already in Manila to acclimatise to the conditions there.

The four gold medals are expected to come from Alvin Yeow in the men’s Optimist, Mohamed Romzi Muhammad in the men’s Laser, Rufina in the women’s Optimist and Tiffany Koo in the women’s Laser Radial.When the Philippines last hosted the Games in 1991, team MYA only managed a haul of one silver and four bronze medals.

And with the Government investing, via the Monsoon Cup in Terengganu, to make Malaysia a sailing destination, Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said has already announced several States will be made training hubs for sailing in the country.And with the NSC committed at the high performance end, the future for sailing in the country is bright, four gold medals or not.