Commonwealth Games: Malaysia heads to Glasgow's with tempered expectations

 

National para powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (second, right) with fellow para powerlifter Bryan Junency Gustin (third, left) before the departure of the Malaysian contingent to the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on July 21, 2026. -- BERNAMA PIC

KUALA LUMPUR: The national contingent heads to a pared-down Glasgow Commonwealth Games with a modest five-gold target as uncertainty continues to loom over the future of the competition.

Malaysia will be sending its smallest contingent to the July 23-Aug 2 Games in roughly three decades, featuring only 59 athletes - 37 able-bodied and 22 para athletes - who will be led by chef-de-mission Datuk Awalan Aziz.

The Games usually feature 20 sports but only has 10 on the roster this time.

Malaysia will only be competing in eight of them this time - athletics and para athletics, lawn bowls and para lawn bowls, 3x3 basketball and wheelchair basketball, track cycling and para track cycling, weightlifting and para powerlifting, swimming and para swimming as well as judo.

Malaysia will not be competing in boxing and netball this year.

The biggest name in the contingent is no doubt former world keirin champion and two-time Olympic medallist Azizulhasni Awang, who despite his advancing years, has proven that he remains a force to be reckoned with at the World level.

The 38-year-old beat the current crop of stars including Dutch world champion Harrie Lavreysen and Britain's Matthew Richardson en route to winning two keirin gold and two individual sprint bronzes in the UCI World Cup series this season.

Navigating the Commonwealth Games schedule will, however, be tricky as the keirin (July 31) and individual sprint (Aug 1) events will be held on back-to-back days, leaving little time for recovery.

National cyclist Azizulhasni Awang posing with a men’s sprint bronze medal at the UCI World Cup meet at the National Velodrome in Nilai recently. -- NSTP/Filepic

Racing alongside Azizulhasni will be his long-time teammate Shah Firdaus Sahrom, who won keirin bronze at Birmingham 2022.

Shah, however, underwent knee surgery late last year, losing substantial muscle mass in the recovery process and it remains to be seen if he has recovered the explosive power he once had.

Nurul Izzah Izzati Asri and Nur Alyssa Farid will carry the nation's hopes in the women's events.

The Malaysia National Cycling Federation (MNCF) have announced a two-medal target - without specifying colour - for the Games.

The bulk of Malaysia's gold medals is expected to come from weightlifting, a sport which has consistently delivered for Malaysia at the Games over the past two decades.

The squad has been handed a three-gold target, which could be a bit of a stretch.

Aniq Kasdan (under-60kg) and Aznil Bidin (under-65kg), who both won gold at Birmingham 2022, will once again lead Malaysian hopes.

Erry Hidayat (under-79kg), who claimed bronze in Birmingham, and newcomer Syahmi Ghazali (under-94kg) are seen as having an outside chance of gold in their events.

Lawn bowls is also expected to deliver at least one gold with the experienced Emma Firyana Saroji, a gold medallist at Gold Coast 2018, leading the charge.

In para sports, which also features a pared-down programme, Latif Romly (long jump T20) and Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (powerlifting), who have both won multiple gold medals at the Paralympics, have the experience to finish on the top step of the podium.

Bonnie will be looking to defend his men's lightweight class gold from Birmingham 2022.

Men's C1 sprint world champion Yusof Hafizi Shaharuddin will lead the para cycling squad though that particular event is not included at the games.

He will compete in the C1-C3 1,000m time trial and 3,000m individual pursuit.

Malaysia previously sent 104 athletes to compete in 16 sports at Birmingham 2022 where the contingent won seven gold, eight silver and eight bronze to rank 10th overall.

Malaysia has not sent fewer than 100 athletes to the quadrennial games since Victoria, Canada in 1994 when 48 athletes represented the country in eight sports.

While the Games' colonial history and its perceived lack of prestige has contributed to its decline in popularity, the real threat to its existence is the huge funding it requires.

Victoria, Australia, which won the bid to host the 2026 Games in 2022, withdrew in July 2023 due to escalating cost projections.

Victoria had initially budgeted A$2.6 billion (RM7.46 billion) to host the event but later found that it could cost them up to A$7 billion (RM20 million).

The Games were nearly cancelled before Glasgow was confirmed as the new host for the event in September 2024, albeit hosting a scaled-down version of it. - NST