Where is Malaysian sports headed to? After worst performance in SEA Games history!

That will certainly be the talking point, not only among the sports fraternity and fans but the entire nation, after the worst ever performance by the Malaysia contingent that competed in the 2023 Cambodia SEA Games which draws down its curtain officially tonight.

The Malaysian contingent comprising 676 athletes and officials recorded their worst-ever achievement in the history of the SEA Games by finishing in seventh position and failing to meet the 40-gold target at the 32nd edition of the biennial games.

The achievement here was worse than the Hanoi edition in Vietnam last year where the Malaysian contingent had finished in sixth position with a haul of 39-45-90. They also finished in the same position in the 1983 edition in Singapore.

What's more disappointing is that Malaysia finished below host Cambodia (winner of just 9 gold medals in Vietnam), Singapore and the Philippines.

When the curtain falls on the biennial Games, the national contingent will return home from the SEA Games having collected just 34 golds, 45 silvers and 97 bronzes to be placed seventh in the overall medal tally, an unprecedented position since the inception of the Games in 1959.

Whatever reasons or excuses that would be given for the failure, what is clearly evident is that Malaysia's prowess in sports has dipped to an all time low.

Those responsible cannot claim that the main reason for the failure is because a majority of the athletes are new faces or competing in the games for the first time or the fact that the host country had used naturalised athletes, etc.

Such excuses are not relevant because the national contingent have undergone thorough preparations before heading to Cambodia and know what to expect.

Claims that another reason for the failure was because the projection given by the National Sports Association (NSA) about the capabilities and performance of their respective athletes was not the true picture of their achievement, cannot be accepted.

Summarizing the country's worst achievement, sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli said the poor performances and achievements cannot be viewed lightly but should be analysed from all angles.

Dr Pekan added that all those responsible, including the National Sports Council (NSC) and the NSA's must take steps to overcome the dip in performance as well as find solutions to improve the situation, not only at the SEA Games level but at more prestigious competitions like the Asian Games and Olympics.

"We know that performances of athletes are vetted, discussed and analysed before setting medal targets for each sport and overall medal target.

"The time has come to monitor NSA's....if there are no development programmes, no coaches and not many competitions participated but promise the sky and the moon, we should not accept them blindly," he said.

Issues or claims that the host nation, in this case, Cambodia had introduced a number of new sports and fielded naturalised athletes, is not something new in the SEA Games because as the host nation, the country would not want to finish at the bottom of the medal tally.

"There is no reason to claim that Cambodia had snatched medals from us or pushed us to the seventh spot. I wish to know how many gold medals was lost to Cambodia because they used naturalised athletes? Maybe only cricket...basketball does not fall into the equation because we are not sure if we can win a gold in that sport," he said.

Dr Pekan also rejected claims that the participation of national athletes in the SEA Games was to give exposure to young athletes before listing them for bigger competitions.

"If our policy is to send so called young athletes for exposure at the age of 21, 22 or 23, it will not serve the purpose because it is the prime age for athletes to win gold medals and not just be there to make up the numbers.

"Don't tell me athletes will compete for medals in the SEA Games at the age of 30. The justification does not reflect the development of an athlete. Just look at the athletes from China. Their young athletes have already become Olympic champions," said Dr Pekan.

He added that NSAs must include their best athletes and not just send young or new faces to compete in the SEA Games in the name of exposure.

"Even if there are athletes who are ranked among the best in the world, we should not hesitate to include them in competitions like the SEA Games or other games. We must always send the best because we do not want our opponents to feel that they can easily overcome Malaysian athletes. It is like giving up our pride," he said.

Athletics which is always criticised for various reasons turned out to be the highest contributor of gold medals (5) but the most disappointing sports are badminton, football, indoor hockey and swimming.

It is understood that Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria will provide details about the performances and achievement of athletes at the Cambodia SEA Games during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

Not withstanding the outcome of the press conference, a quick remedy must be found before Malaysian athletes head to Hangzhou, China for the Asian Games in September.