A player of Malaysia (in yellow and black) in the bronze medal match of the men's football at SEA Games 31 with Indonesia (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Malaysian team concluded the SEA Games 31 hosted by Vietnam at the sixth place on the medal tally, winning a total of 174 medals,including 39 golds, 45 silvers and 90 bronzes.
Although the country has realised its set target of 36golds, its ranking is considered the ‘worst performance in 40 years’.
Traditionally a regional sport power, Malaysia is usually in theregional top five and the last time it settled for sixth was in 1983, when onlyeight nations took part, compared to the current 11.
Malaysia made a strong start at the SEA Games 31, winning alleight golds in diving, with the rest of the medals scattered across othersports.
The exposure gained at the SEA Games is crucial for thecountry to achieve more success in other multi-sport Games like theCommonwealth Games and the Asian Games, said Minister of Youth and Sports AhmadFaizal Azumu.
The Malaysian government slashed sports spending in 2021 to 289million MYR (about 67 million USD) from 940 million MYR the year before.
It also cut down its full-time number of athletes from 432to 288, months after earning one silver and one bronze at the Tokyo OlympicGames.
SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, isheld in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities from May 12 - 23.
It features 40 sports with 523 events, attracting around10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 butdelayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.
