Malaysian contingent settling down well, says Zolkples

THE athletes were told to be prepared for the worst at the Korat SEA Games. But so far, the Malaysian contingent have no complaints.

Even the badminton venue at the Gymnasium in Vongchavalitkul University is up and ready to welcome the players for the competition, which begins on Saturday.

The National Sports Councils (NSC) director general, Datuk Zolkples Embong, said that the athletes, who began arriving in Korat since Nov 25, had settled down at the Games Village.

“The athletes are happy with their accommodation. In fact, they are contented with the food as well,” he said.

Athletes from swimming and bowling were the latest to arrive yesterday. The remaining members of the Malaysian contingent will come in today and tomorrow.

“The distance from one venue to another is quite far. But there has been no hiccup in their transportation. We hope this will be maintained when more athletes gather here,” said Zolkples.

Despite winning only two gold medals through the team events in shooting, which ended yesterday, Zolkples was upbeat that Malaysia would surpass the 61-gold mark.

Malaysia are hoping to do better than their 61-gold haul achieved at the last Games in Manila two years ago.

“We had banked on Hasli (Izwan) and Nur Suryani (Mohd Taibi) for individual gold medals in shooting but they settled for the silver.

“But we are happy that several rookies did well to help in the team events,” said Zolkples.

“I am still confident that our athletes will rise to the occasion. I am hoping for surprises in cycling and athletics.”

The Games will officially open on Thursday.

Star