Malaysia's Medal Hunt In Glasgow To Start Tomorrow

Kata-kata motivasi daripada YB @Khairykj kepada semua @AtletMalaysia yang akan berjuang di #Glasgow2014 pic.twitter.com/Aqp2APRSuy
— CGA Malaysia (@ocm_mom) July 21, 2014

GLASGOW, July 23 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian contingent's hunt for medals in the 20th edition of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland will start in earnest tomorrow.

The games, featuring 6,500 athletes and officials from 71 countries will be officially opened at Celtic Park at 8pm, (3am Malaysian time).

Scotland are hosting the Commonwealth Games for the third time this year, after having hosted the games in Edinburgh back in 1970 and 1986.

Throughout Malaysia's participation in the Commonwealth Games, the Malaysian contingent managed two gold medals in Victoria, Canada (1994), 10 gold in Kuala Lumpur (1998), seven in Manchester, England (2002), seven in Melbourne, Australia (2006) and the best haul was 12 in New Delhi, India (2010).

For this year's competition, the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has set a target of seven gold medals, well below the 12 gold medals won in New Delhi, four years ago.

The target was accepted by Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and the National Sports Council (NSC) as a 'realistic' target simply because a number of sports or events were not included.

Malaysia are sending a 269-member contingent who will be competing in 14 of the 17 sports contested, or precisely 130 events (67 in the men's category and 55 in the women's category) and eight Para Games events.

Malaysian athletes will be participating in swimming, diving, weightlifting, badminton, cycling, lawn bowls, gymnastics, hockey, judo, shooting, athletics, table tennis, rugby, squash and boxing.

Medals won by athletes in the Para Games which will be held simultaneously with the Commonwealth Games, will also add to the country's medal tally.

Malaysia's best ever medal haul from the Para Games (Commonwealth Games) was in the 2002 edition in Manchester, England, winning a silver and three bronze.

This time around, Para Games offers 22 gold medals in five sports.

The Glasgow Commonwealth Games offers 261 gold medals.

From Farhanah Azmi -- BERNAMA