Malaysia have proven to be a force to be reckoned with in the Islamic
Solidarity Games (ISG) after ending up fourth in medal standings in the
third edition of the ISG, which ended recently.
Malaysia finished with a haul of 26 gold, 17 silver and 29 bronze
medals behind champions Indonesia (36-34-34), Iran (30-17-12) and Egypt
(26-31-29) in the 58-nation championship for their greatest performance
ever.
It surpassed their haul of 5-5-6 en route to finishing seventh at the inaugural Games in Saudi Arabia in 2005.
Youth and Sports Ministry secretary-general Datuk Jamil Salleh said
that Malaysians should feel proud of the phenomenal achievement, which
he attributed to the earnest commitment from athletes, sports
associations, the ministry, National Sports Council (NSC), Olympic
Council of Malaysia and National Sports Institute.
He said, however, that a post-mortem would be carried out to study
the success as well as the weaknesses so as to ensure that the athletes
will be in top form for the Myanmar SEA Games in December.
NSC director-general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong said that the
Palembang ISG was one of the best avenues for exposure for the athletes
before the SEA Games.
He commended the badminton players, for doing better than their
Indonesian counterparts by winning six of the seven gold medals up for
grabs, and the swimmers for winning 12 golds – the highest contribution
to the medal haul.
The performance of wushu exponents, he said, was also beyond
expectation as they lifted four golds, six silvers and three bronzes
although no targets were set for them.
The other gold medal winners included archery (three) and karate (one).