 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
History | |
Previous Participation |
|
Previous Medal Tally |
|
Previous Chef-De-Mission |
PREVIOUS PARTICIPATION
After the 3rd British Empire Games was held in 1938 in
Sydney, Australia, there was lapse of 12 years, before the next Games was held in 1950,
after World War II. Although at that time, Malaya was not yet an independent country, the
British Government in Malaya allowed and organized a team of four weightlifters from
Malaya to participate for the first time in the Games under the Union Jack.
Due to lack of financial support, Malaya could not
participate in the 5th British Empire & Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver in 1954.
This was most unfortunately as otherwise, the Malayan Weightlifters would have repeated
their victories in 1950. The winning total in the 1954 Bantam Weight category was 620 lb.,
which was 35 lb. less than the total of 655 lb. achieved by Tho Fook Hung in 1950.
Similarly, the winning total in the featherweight category in 1954 was 690 lb., which was
only 5 lb. more than the total achieved by Koh Eng Tong in 1950.
For the 6th British Empire and Commonwealth Games held in Cardiff, the Federation of Malaya sent a three men team, comprising 440 yards Athlete Rahim Ahmad and Weightlifters Tan Kim Bee and Chan Kum Weng. The team ended with one silver medal through Tan Kim Bee in the Middle Heavy Weight category and Chan Kum Weng in Feather Weight category. At the 6th British Empire & Commonwealth Games, Sarawak and Sabah participated for the first time with separate teams. Sarawak was represented by a team of three athletes while Sabah was represented by one athlete.
The Federation of Malaya sent a large contingent,
comprising 5 athletes, 4 Cyclists, 2 Swimmers and 3 Weightlifters to the 7th British
Empire & Commonwealth Games held in Perth in 1962. The contingent of 14 athletes,
The 8th British Empire & Commonwealth Games 1966 was special to Malaysia in that it was the first time a combined Contingent which included athletes from Sarawak and Sabah represented Malaysia. It was the first time that Badminton was included in the Games and it was also the first time that the Games was held in the Third World, outside Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Having just won back the Thomas Cup from Indonesia, a couple of months ago, Malaysia was in a strong position to establish its Badminton supremacy in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games as well. A strong team of 6 Badminton players comprising two women were selected, together with 5 Athletes including one woman, one Swimmer, one Shooter and four Weightlifters. As expected the Badminton team did extremely well winning two gold medals, in the Men's Singles event through Tan Aik Huang, the Men's Doubles event through Tan Aik Huang and Yew Cheng Hoe, two silver medals in the Men's Singles event through Yew Cheng Hoe and in the Men's Doubles events through Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan, and one bronze medal in the Women's Doubles event through Rosalind Singha Ang and Teoh Siew Yong. Other good results achieved were in the Men's 220 yards athletics event and the Men's 100 M. Breastroke swimming event, where M. Jegathesan and Cheah Thong Kim managed to enter the finals in their respectively events. Another good performance was achieved by Nashatar Singh who finished fourth in the Men's Javelin event. For the first time in the Games, the Weightlifters failed to win a medal. Weightlifters Chung Kam Weng, who represented Malaya in the 1958 Games in Cardiff,
settled there after the Games. In 1966, Chung Kam Weng represented Wales in the British
Empire Games in Kingston and won a gold medal in Weightlifting for his new country, Wales,
in the Featherweight category.
The 9th British Commonwealth Games held in Edinburgh in
1970, saw Malaysia participating in only 3 sports with a very much reduced team. For the
first time, athletics was not represented, while there was only one Weightlifter. Malaysia
participated in Fencing for the first time with three Fencers.
The 10th British Commonwealth Gams was held in
Christchurch, New Zealand in January 1970. The Malaysian Contingent was represented by 2
Athletes, five Badminton players, two Cyclists, one Shooter, two Swimmers and one
Weightlifter. Again it was the Badminton players who won medals in their events. Punch
Gunalan won the Men's Singles gold medal and partnering Dominic Soong won the bronze medal
in the Men's Doubles event. Sylvia Ng won the bronze medal in the Women's Singles event
and with Rosalind Singha Ang as her partner, won another bronze medal in the women's
Doubles event.
Malaysia sent a contingent of 19 athletes to the 11th
Commonwealth Games which was held in Edmonton in 1978. The Contingent comprised 5
Athletes, 7 Badminton players, 3 Shooters, 2 Swimmers and one Weightlifter. It was the
women Badminton players who saved the day for Malaysia by winning both the gold and the
silver medal when Sylvia Ng defeated Katherine Toh in the all Malaysia final in the
Women's Singles event. This was the only occasion in the Commonwealth Games when a gold
medal had been won by a Malaysian woman athlete. The Men's Doubles pair of Moo Foot Lian
and Ong Beng Teong won the silver medal, while the team won the bronze medal.
Due to the rather poor results of athletes from other
sports in the Commonwealth Games Programme, the Olympic Council of Malaysia decided to
send only the Badminton team of 4 men players and 2 women players to the 12th Commonwealth
Games in Brisbane in 1982. The Badminton team managed to maintain its good record of
winning a gold medal in every Commonwealth Games since Badminton was introduced in the
1966 Games, by winning a gold medal through Rasif Sidek and Ong Beng Teong in the Men's
Doubles event and a bronze medal through Rasif Sidek in the Men's Singles event.
Malaysia boycotted the 13th Commonwealth Games held in
Edinburgh in 1986 DID NOT PARTICIPATE
Malaysia returned to the 14th
Commonwealth Games in 1990 with a relatively large contingent totaling 16 athletes, who
participated in 5 sports. The composition of the Contingent was 5 men and 4 women
Badminton players, one woman Rhythmic gymnast, one cyclist, two men and one women
athletes, and one men swimmer. As expected the Badminton players mad a clean sweep of the
men's events by winning both the gold and silver medals. Rashid Sidek won the Men's
Singles gold medal by defeating Foo Kok Keong, while his elder brothers Razif and Jalani
Sidek won the Men's Doubles gold medal by defeating Cheah Soon Kit and himself.
On 22 July 1992, Malaysia won the right to host the XVI Commonwealth Games in Kuala Kuala Lumpur in 1998. As the next host, the Olympic Council in Malaysia decided to have a more visible presence at the XV Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994. As such, the Malaysian Contingent comprising 51 athletes to Victoria was the largest ever contingent to participate in a Commonwealth Games. The Contingent made up of 8 Athletes, 10 Badminton players, 2 Boxers, 4 Lawn Bowlers, 5 Cyclists, 7 Gymnasts, 12 Shooters, and 3 Weightlifters. In Victoria, Malaysia continued with its domination in Badminton by winning gold and silver medals in the Men's Single event, through Rashid Sidek and Ong Ewe Hock respectively, the gold and bronze medals in the Men's Doubles event, through Cheah Soon Kit partnering Soo Beng Kiang and Tan Kim Her and Ong Ewe Hock respectively, the Women's Doubles bronze medal through Lee Wai Leng and Tan Lee Wai and the silver medal in the Teams' event. Martin Guntali sprang a pleasant surprise by winning a silver medal in the Clean and
Jerk event in Weightlifting in the 50 Kg. category. This was the first medal won in
Weightlifting since 1962
The 16th Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur 1998, the first Commonwealth Games ever hosted by an Asian country; concluded with a spectacular yet a memorable event indeed. For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth Games all 70 Commonwealth countries took part in the World's 2nd largest sports carnival; and the first time team sports are included. The contest which was declared opened by Malaysia's king, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja'afar, had Her Majesty Britain's Queen Elizabeth gracefully concluded the two-week long carnival. The brand new national sports complex (NSC) in Bukit Jalil, 20km south of Kuala Lumpur's city centre, saw most of the sports thrills and spills in action. The excellent infrastructure such as the Shah Alam Expressway (SAE), STAR LRT and Telekom Malaysia's exchange (with a capacity of 10,000 lines) in Bukit Jalil enables efficient running of all events during the game. Sports such as netball, cricket, hockey and rugby sevens were some of the team activities being included for the first time. Malaysia collected an impressive medal tally of 10 Gold, 15 Silver and 20 Bronze
medals.
Overall, the Malaysian Contingent achieved good results in Manchester. The final medal tally of 7 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 18 bronze medals was the highest achieved by a Malaysian Contingent to a Commonwealth Games, held outside Kuala Lumpur. The medal tally compares very favourably with the 10 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 12 bronze medals, won at the XVI Commonwealth Games, 1998, where Kuala Lumpur was the Host City. Athletes in 9 of the 14 sports, in
which Malaysia participated in won medals. The
five sports, which did not win any medal were, Cycling, Hockey (Women), Rugby, Table
Tennis and Triathlon. Lawn Bowls, Men’s Artistic
Gymnastics, Squash and Swimming won medals for the first time in the Commonwealth Games.
The gold medal in the Women’s Doubles Pair is the first gold medal won by a Malaysian
women Doubles Pair in the Commonwealth Games. Breakdown of Malaysia’s Medal Tally by Sport
Outstanding Athletes Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim was outstanding in winning all three gold medals, and setting three new Commonwealth Games record in the Men’s Up to 56kgs Weightlifting competitions. The Badminton players, Muhammad Hafiz
Hashim (Men’s Singles), Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng (Men’s Doubles) and
Ang Li Peng and Lim Pek Sian (Women’s Doubles) performed extremely well to win gold
medals in their respective events. They good performance maintained Malaysia’s
supremacy in Badminton in the Commonwealth Games. Unknown Lawn Bowler, Siti Zalina Ahmad, overcame all odds to win the Women’s Singles gold medal, against her more experienced rivals. Alex Lim Keng Liat, was very
outstanding, although he won only a silver and a bronze medal in the 50m and 100m
Backstroke respectively. Swimming in the
Commonwealth Games is World-Class. Against really world-class swimmers, including world
champions Matt Welsh and Ian Thorpe, Keng Liat rose to the occasion to win the first ever
medals in Swimming for Malaysia in the Commonwealth Games. In both his events, he broke
his own national records, and in the 100m Backstroke, he bettered his winning time of
55.53 sec in the 1998 Asian Games, with a time of 55.44 sec. Keng Liat is now ranked among
the first 5 swimmers in the world in the 50m and 100m Backstroke events. Athletics in the Commonwealth Games
is another sport, which has attained World standards. Yuan Yu Fang, in spite of being
warded for Dengue fever, barely 18 days before her event, still managed to win a bronze
medal in the gruelling 20km Walk event. She not only had to overcome fatigue due to her
illness, but also her fear of being disqualified. Josiah Ng, although did not win any
medal, came out fifth in the Men’s Sprint event. Cycling, like Swimming and Athletics
is one of the few really world class sports in the Commonwealth Games. Hence achieving a
fifth placing, had placed Josiah amongst the top ranked cyclists in the world. The two Gymnasts, Ng Shu Wai and Loke Yik Siang, in winning a silver and a bronze medal in their respective events, also produced good performance. Although the standard of Men’s Artistic Gymnastics in the Commonwealth Games is not of such a high standard, both Ng Shu Wai and Loke Yik Siang have shown good potential for the future. Assessment
of the Performance by Sport Aquatics – swimming is one
of the world-class sports in the Commonwealth Games The
performance Lim Keng Liat was outstanding, while that of the other swimmer Siow Yi Teng
was disappointing. The Divers and the Synchronized
Swimmers did not performed up to expectations. After
sweeping all the gold medals in both Diving and Synchronized Swimming at the XXI SEA Games
held in Kuala Lumpur in 2001, more were expected from the Divers and the Synchronized
Swimmers. Unfortunately they failed to rise to the occasion and did not win any medal. In
the case of the Divers, not only were they not ranked high, they lost by over 100 points
to the winners in their respective events. Athletics – this is one of the
world-class sports in the Commonwealth Games. Only
two athletes were selected for the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. As expected, Yuan
Yu Fang won a bronze medal in the 20km Walk event. Teh Weng Chang failed to achieved his
personal best in the Men’s Pole Vault and managed to clear 4.90m only. Badminton – although the Mixed team
was not expected to win the gold medal, the upset win by the Women’s Singles player
over her English opponent, provided the Malaysian an almost certain passage into the
semi-final and then to the gold medal. Unfortunately, the Men’s Doubles Pair failed
to play to expectation and lost their match to the English Pair, thereby giving the
English Mixed team the chance to enter the semi-final and the gold medal in the final. In the individual events, the men
players played up to expectation, with the women players rising to the occasion by winning
one gold medal, and two bronze medals. Boxing – the Boxers had
high hopes of winning a gold medal, thereby equalling the gold medal tally of the 1998
Commonwealth Games. Unfortunately, Boxing is a sport, which is totally unpredictable, as
the decisions of the bouts are totally in the hands or the eyes of the Boxing Judges and
Referees. The Boxers of the Host Country,
always have some advantages and in any close fights, the boxers from the Host Country,
almost always win. In the case of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, our Boxers suffered some
rather controversial decisions of the judges, and lost their bouts, in some close fights. Cycling – this is one of the world-class sports in the
Commonwealth Games. Except for Josiah Ng, the performances of the other cyclists were not
up to expectations. Although they were not expected win any medals, the difference in the
standards between our cyclists and those from Australia, England, New Zealand, etc was
very wide. Men’s Artistic Gymnastics – the failure of the Gymnasts in the Men’s
Team All-Round event was disappointing, as a medal was the target. Fortunately, Ng Shu Wai
and Loke Yik Siang, saved the day and salvaged the pride of Gymnastics by winning a silver
medal in the Floor Exercise and a bronze
medal in the Pommel Horse respectively. Hockey (Women) – this is one of the
world-class sports in the Commonwealth Games. Much criticism was levelled at the
Women’s Hockey team for not playing well in Manchester. Unfortunately, it was not made clear that the
Hockey Team in Manchester was the Junior Team, being prepared for the 2006 Asian Games. Almost 90% of the players in the team
are school-girls, without any prior international experience. It is hoped that the experience gained by the
young players, will motivate and encourage them to not only train, but to train even
harder for 2006. Lawn Bowls – this sport is not in the
Olympic Games or the Asian Games. The Lawn Bowls team finished with one gold medal and one
bronze medal, although more medals were expected and targeted. Nevertheless, it was still
a good achievement, especially by Siti Zalina Ahmad in winning the Women Singles gold
medal. Rugby 7s – this is one of the
world-class sports in the Commonwealth Games. As expected the team lost to Australia
(0-55) and Fiji (0-73) in the Pool matches, but beat Trinidad and Tobago by 45 points to 7
points. In the Bowls competition, Malaysia met Cook Island and lost by a score of 52
points to 0 points. Shooting – although the shooters won two silver medals and two bronze
medals, their failure to win even one gold medal was disappointing. After their good performance in the World
Championships, more was expected from the women shooters. Unfortunately, they could not
live up to their form and failed to win even one gold medal in any of the events they
participated in. Squash – this is one of the world-class sports in the Commonwealth
Games. Ong Beng Hee and Nicol Ann David, more than made up their failure to win any medal
in their Singles events, by winning the silver medal in the Mixed Doubles event. As both Beng Hee and Nicol are young, their
potential will be filly realised in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Table Tennis – the performances of the players in the team and individual competitions
were not up to expectations, based on the results of the last Commonwealth Table Tennis
Championships. Triathlon – this is one of the
world-class sports in the Commonwealth Games. The
two Malaysian tri-athletes were outclassed, finishing in 30th and 32nd
position, trailing 23 min and 27 min behind the gold medallist. Weightlifting – overall the performance of the four Weightlifters was good,
as all four lifters returned with at least one medal.
Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim was outstanding with 3 gold medals. Roswadi Rashid
was lucky to win a bronze medal in the Snatch, when the Indian Lifter, who won the silver
medal was disqualified for failing the doping test. It should be noted that the 2002 Commonwealth Games is the last Games where one medal will be awarded for each lift and one for the total. For the 2006 Commonwealth Games, only one set of medals will be awarded for each Division |