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Syed Saddiq to get to bottom of poor performance at Asian Games

Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman will meet Podium Programme director Tim Newenham next week to seek clarification on some of its athletes who performed poorly at the recent Asian Games.

The minister said the meeting was also to discuss the failure to place Malaysia in the top 10.

Previously, the country's contingent had also failed to be in the top 10 in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

"KBS will call him for clarification (regarding the matter). The ISN (National Sports Institute) and the MSN (National Sports Council) will also sit together and we shall see what needs to be done," he told a post-2018 Asian Games news conference today.

Asked on the status of the Podium Programme, Syed Saddiq said he had to get a full post-mortem report on the Asian Games before making any decision.

He said detailed discussions would also be conducted with the parties involved to determine the future of the Podium Programme including athletes, coaches, sports associations and management.

"To conclude now is unfair, we must have numerous discussions and get input from stakeholders.

"If we need a major improvement or revamp we need to evaluate all the proposals, need to get the input from the parties involved.

"I have informed MSN and ISN that there should be a major overhaul of the management structure, allocation system, reward and punishment structure so that we can make sure mistakes can be avoided and the success achieved can be continued," he said.

Malaysia, which finished 14th in the Asian Games which ended on Sept 2, won seven gold, 13 silver and 16 bronze. At the Commonwealth Games, the contingent collected seven gold, five silver and 11 bronze medals to finish 12th.

Meanwhile, Syed Saddiq said sports that were given targets but failed to win any medals were considered to have failed.

He said the sports were silat, which targeted to win three gold medals but failed to do so, followed by karate which only won a bronze while wushu and badminton returned empty-handed.

However, he said the rise of athletes from several other sports ensured the initial target was met.

Additionally, he emphasised on the lack of mental strength, physical fitness, tactical and technical aspects which must be rectified quickly.

The Podium Programme is an initiative of the Youth and Sports High Performance Plan launched by former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin in 2016 to realise Malaysia's first gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, apart from emerging among the top 10 group of countries in the 2018 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games

- Bernama

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