Malaysia Yet To Win A Medal After Four Days Of Competition

From AHMAD MULIADY ABDUL MAJID NANJING, Aug 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's barren run of medals continued on the fourth day (Wednesday) of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG 2014) as Malaysian athletes continued their dismal performance. The fact that the National Sports Council and the Olympic Council of Malaysia had not set any specific target for the Malaysian contingent despite spending a huge sum of money, may have given a strong reason for the athletes to be on an all expenses paid 'holiday' in Nanjing. With the exception of badminton where hopes still linger on for at least a medal, the other sports have not fared well to say the least. Swimming, shooting and athletics have performed well below expectations while competition in equestrian, sailing and golf have also not illuminated medal hopes yet. Unlike Malaysia who spend a huge sum of money in the name of sports development, countries like Thailand, Vietnam and even our neighbour Singapore have placed themselves in the medal tally. Thailand has two gold medals, Vietnam has one while Singapore has a silver medal to show. Meanwhile, host China who continued to dominate the action and medal collection, opened up a gap at the top of the standings to distance itself from second placed Russia. China now has 11 gold, four silver, eight bronze against Russia's eight gold, six silver and four bronze while Italy moved into third place ahead of Hungary, with four gold, three silver and two bronze. Thailand remain the best placed Asean country with a tally of (2,1,0) while Vietnam stand at (1,1,0) and Singapore has one silver medal. Malaysia will be hoping for a medal in badminton after National junior men's singles player Cheam June Wei moved into the mixed doubles semifinals with partner Ng Tsz Yau from Hongkong. June Wei-Tsz Yau will meet Narongrit Mek (Thailand)/Qin Jinjing (China) in the semifinal Thursday. In the golf course Kelly Kah Kah is in 14th spot after two rounds of the women's competition while Low Khai Jei ended up in 21st spot in the men's competition after two rounds at the Zhongshan International Golf Club. Sailor Asri Azman is in 11th spot after seven rounds of competition and with only three more rounds remaining, it would be almost impossible for him to sail into gold medal contention. At the Nanjing Olympic Stadium, venue for athletics, there was also no cheers for the Malaysian contingent when hurdler Mohd Rizzu Haizad Muhammad failed to get past the heats in the men's 110m hurdles. In the men's high jump, Norshafiee Mohd Shah managed to clear only 2.03m and finished in 12th spot. Malaysian athletes will continue to see action Thursday in badminton, golf, shooting and swimming. -- BERNAMA