With 460 gold medals at stake, the Malaysian contingent which comprises of 556 athletes who will be competing in 29 sports and are not taking part in vovinam, traditional boat race, wrestling and kempo, has been set a modest 40 gold medals target.
The Malaysian athletes will take part in swimming, athletics, archery, badminton, basketball, snooker and billiards, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, football (including futsal), golf, hockey, judo, karate, rowing, sepaktakraw (chinlone), sailing, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, wushu, bodybuilding, chess, Muay Thai, pencak silat, weightlifting and petanque.
In the 2011 Games in Indonesia, Malaysia won 59 gold medals, 50 silver and 82 bronze to finish fourth overall and it was the country's best achievement in the SEA Games since winning 111 gold medals when the country hosted the Games in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had recently urged national athletes to the Myanmar SEA Games to rise up to the occasion as their families and 28 million Malaysians are banking on them to succeed.
“Let other countries see our contingent with the Harimau (Tiger) stripes as serious contenders,” he said.
For the Malaysian athletes, the Myanmar SEA Games will also be a good platform for them to prepare for two major meets next year - the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea and Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
However, Harimau Muda A (the National Under-23) football squad have their own mission here, besides retaining the 'mother of all gold medals” in the Games, expectations are high on Datuk Ong Kim Swee's boys to land a hattrick of gold medals in the football event.
In Myanmar, Malaysia are the top drawcards, having won back-to-back titles, in Laos (2009) and Jakarta (2011).
The Harimau Muda A also have a favourable draw after being pitted against Brunei, Laos, Singapore and Vietnam in Group A. Group B comprises Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Timor Leste and Cambodia.
Though the Games officially open tomorrow, some sports like waterpolo, badminton, boxing, football, pencak silat, basketball, futsal and canoeing have started much earlier. In fact, wushu and chinlone events have already been completed.
It was also a sweet achievement for wushu exponent, Phoon Eyin who caused a stir and created sporting history when she won Malaysia's 1,000th gold medal of the SEA Games since 1959, yesterday.
Only two other countries have won more than 1,000 SEA Games golds — Thailand (1,887) and Indonesia (1,602).
Most of the 22-day action will take place in Myanmar's new capital Naypyitaw while Yangon, Mandalay and Ngwesaung will host other competitions including water sports and sailing from tomorrow to December 22.
After 44 years out of the limelight, Myanmar are hosting the Games for the third time. The previous times they hosted the event - in 1961 and 1969 – it was called the South East Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games.
This time, 460 gold, 460 silver and 637 bronze medals from 33 sports – fewer than in the previous edition in Indonesia - will be up for grabs. Athletics contributes the most with 46 gold medals.
The organisers of the 27th SEA Games have also pledged to tighten security for the biennial meet after a series of bomb blasts around the country in mid October.
The Myanmar government is also adamant to make the region's most important sporting event a success even though athletes and officials from 11 Asean countries are facing a number difficulties before the Games officially kick-off tomorrow.
bernama.COM
