PHNOM PENH: The national team competing in the Phnom Penh Sea Games has won only 34 gold medals, falling short of its goal of 40 gold medals.
Malaysia’s performance at the Phnom Penh Sea Games this year is considered weaker than it was at the Hanoi Sea Games the year before.
Compared to neighboring countries, Singapore won 50 gold medals, Vietnam 136, the Philippines 58, and Indonesia 86. The only countries placed below Malaysia are Myanmar (21 gold), Laos (6), Brunei (2), and East Timor (0). But Timor sent only 90 athletes, and Brunie only 65, compared to Malaysia which sent 677 athletes.
Malaysia performed significantly worse than it did at the Hanoi Sea Games the previous year. After accounting for the number of competitors, sports expert Datuk Dr. Pekan Ramli stated last year that Malaysia’s result in Hanoi, where Malaysia won 39 gold, 45 silver, and 90 bronze for sixth place overall, was the poorest since the games were first introduced in 1959.
Malaysia is once again behind neighboring Singapore and Indonesia. Being placed in the seventh position this year, one down from its sixth position in the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, Malaysia brought yet another low point in Malaysian sports, according to Analysts.
