MAAU go for 44, warts and all

27/07/1998

THE Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) yesterday listed 44 athletes
for the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games - of which 23 qualified on merit.
The list will be submitted to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) for
approval on Wednesday.
"Although 21 did not make the cut, we selected a large squad because we
want to prepare our athletes for the Asian Games in December and the 1999
Brunei Sea Games," said MAAU president Datuk Khalid Yunus.
Khalid may be looking at the future when he approved the list but one
wonders whether he had thought about the implications of his `vision'.
The Jaya '98 athletes have been training for four years with the
intention of making the Games' list.
By selecting almost everybody who has been attending training, Khalid
has set a negative precedent.
Athletes now will be telling themselves: "Why bother to excel when we
will be selected anyway?"
The athletes were given ample opportunities to qualify for the Games -
at the Selangor Open, Perak Open, Johor Open and every other Open that
came their way - and some could not even produce their best.
By including athletes who will most probably be lapped repeatedly in
long distance races by a world class field, MAAU will be exposing
themselves to ridicule.
Khalid is vice-president of the OCM and chef-de-mission of the Malaysian
contingent to the KL Games. He will also be on the selection committee who
will decide the fate of these athletes.
"Of course, I'll be on the OCM selection committee. This is not a
precedent ... I have been doing this for a long time," said Khalid.
The athletes will undergo centralised training from Aug 1 at the
National Stadium until the Games begin on Sept 11. MAAU LIST
QUALIFIED - Men: Watson Nyambek (100m), M. Shanmugan (3,000m s'chase),
Loo Kum Zee (high jump), Zaki Sadri (long jump), Yazid Imran (javelin),
Narinder Singh (20km walk), G. Saravanan (50km walk), A. Munusamy
(1,500m); Hamberi Mahat, R. Ganeshwaran, Nazmizan Mohamed, Tan Kok Lin,
Azmi Ibrahim (4x100m).
Women: G. Shanti (100, 200m), Hii Siew Ngiik (100m hurdles), Yuan Yu
Fang, Annastasia Karen Raj, Cheng Tong Lean (10km walk); N. Manimagalay,
K. Soloseeni, S. Rathimalar, P. Kuganeswari, Carol Lucia Alfred (4x400m).
DID NOT QUALIFY - Men: M. Ramachandran (5,000, 10,000m), Nur Herman
Majid (110m hurdles), Chai Song Lip (long jump), Teoh Boon Lim, Shahrul
Haizy Abdul Rahman (20km walk), B. Thirukumaran, K. Pusparajan (50km
walk), Malek Tobias (decathlon), Romzi Bakar, D. Nadarajan, S. Vasu, R.
Nandakumar, Yazid Parlan, Saiful Zainal (4x400M), Petira Ghani, Nazar
Rahim (shot put), Wong Tee Kui (hammer).
Women: Nik Noor Azura (100, 200m), Moh Siew Wai (100m hurdles),
Norsheela Khalid (400m hurdles), V. Vasuki (heptathlon).
(END)