KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 (Bernama) -- The meeting between the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president, Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Ja'afar, and the new Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Tuesday is set to be the beginning of a cordial working relationship between the two parties.
Tunku Imran said he had briefed the minister on the role played by the OCM and the National Sports Associations (NSAs) under its umbrella.
"Our discussion lasted about an hour and touched on various roles played by OCM and I also invited the minister to the Beijing Olympic Games in August to support our national athletes who will be in action," he told reporters after launching the Milo-OCM-NSC-MSSM Junior Olympian Award at the OCM office, here.
So far, 16 athletes from six sports have qualified for the Olympic Games on merit while another four from cycling have not been confirmed yet although they are expected to make the grade after their impressive performances at the Asian Cycling Championships in Nara, Japan which ended on Sunday.
Azizul Hazni Awang, winner of the keirin and 200m sprint gold, Rizal Tisin, winner of the gold in the 1km time trial and Fatihah Mustapa (silver medallist in 500m time trial) and keirin expert Josiah Ng are tipped to make the trip.
With the men's hockey team failing to make the cut for the Olympics, swimming has the biggest number of participation with seven - four from diving and three in swimming, two from athletics, three in archery, two from taekwondo and one each in shooting and sailing.
With the names from badminton yet to be included, the number of those making the trip to Beijing could reach 25.
Bryan Nickson Lomas (men's 10m platform) heads the cast in diving together with Leong Mun Yee and Elizabeth Jimie (women's 3m Springboard) and Pandelela Rinong (women's 10m Platform).
Korat SEA Games gold medallists Daniel Bego, Khoo Cai Lin and Siow Yi Ting head the list in swimming while archery has Cheng Chu Sian, Wan Mohd Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz and Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman.
Taekwondo exponents Elaine Teo and Che Chew Chan, Roslinda Samsu, Yuan Yufang (athletics), Hazli Izwan Amir Hasan (shooting) and Kevin Lim from sailing make up the current list.
Though about 25 are expected to represent the country, Malaysia's realistic hopes of winning a medal of any colour will certainly rest on badminton although they returned empty handed from the Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics.
Brothers Razif and Jalani Sidek won Malaysia's first Olympic medal, when they won the bronze in the Men's Badminton Doubles during the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.
Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock won Malaysia's second Olympic medal, when they won a silver in the Men's doubles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics while Rashid Sidek clinched a bronze medal in the Men's singles event.
Meanwhile, the Milo-OCM-MSSM Junior Olympian awards are being held in conjunction with the Beijing Olympics and will be presented to 29 school children aged 15 and below who excel in sports and studies, to mark the 29th edition of the Olympic Games.
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