PETALING JAYA, July 5 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian contingent to the Beijing Olympics next month stand a good chance to clinch the country's first Olympic gold medal, Chef-de-Mission Datuk Ho Koh Chye said.
Overall, 33 athletes from 10 sports qualified for the 29th Summer Olympics to be held in the Chinese capital in August.
"The contingent certainly stand a good chance to win the Olympic gold medal based on the athletes current performance. For example in badminton, our players are as competitive as the other participating countries.
"They are capable of grabbing the first gold medal for Malaysia," Ho told Bernama.
Earlier Ho attended the "Seeing Victory: Towards the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games" programme held by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Malaysia at Ikano Power Centre, here Saturday.
The programme, which involved vision screening of Olympic-bound athletes and provides them with necessary vision correction and eye healthcare advice, was officiated by Olympic Council Malaysia (OCM) honorary secretary Datuk Sieh Kok Chi.
Among Olympic-bound athletes who turned up to have their eyes checked were Daniel Bego (swimming) and Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan (shooting).
"At the Athens Olympics, Malaysia did not win any medal but our neighbours Thailand managed to bring home three gold medals and Indonesia grabbed one," he said.
Malaysia participated in the Olympics for the first time in Melbourne in 1956.
In 1996, at the Atlanta Games, Malaysia won a silver and a bronze through Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock and Rashid Sidek in badminton.
Meanwhile, Sieh said the vision screening programme for the Olympic-bound athletes was timely.
"But I am not satisfied with the athletes' commitment towards this programme... only a few turned up. It is important to get their eye check in order for them to perform better in Beijing.
The athletes involved in the vision screening programme are Cheng Chu Sian, Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman, Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abd Aziz (archery); Leong Mun Yee (diving); Hasli Izwan Amir Hassan (shooting); Daniel Bego (swimming) and Che Chew Chan and Elaine Teo (taekwondo).
Meanwhile, Hasli Izwan has set his eyes on finishing among the world top 10 shooters in the 25m rapid fire pistol at the Olympics.
Describing the aim as realistic, the sole national shooter to the games told reporters in Kuala Lumpur, "As this is my first olympics, I dare not say whether I can win any medal but I resolve to better my record."
Hasli Izwan, who would begin the Olympics training at the Langkawi International Shooting Range (Lisram) on Monday, said Lisram was suitable for him as it was an electronic shooting range like the one at the Beijing Olympics.
The shooter booked his berth to the Olympics by virtue of him being seeded 11th in the world ranking when he collected 581 points at the Asia-Kuwait championship in December last year.
List of athletes to the 2008 Olympic Games:
Archery: Cheng Chu Sian, Muhammad Marbawi Sulaiman and Wan Mohd Khalmizan Wan Abd Aziz.
Diving: Bryan Nickson Lomas, Leong Mun Yee, Elizabeth Jimie and Padalela Rinong.
Swimming: Daniel Bego, Siow Yi Ting, Khoo Cai Lin, Lew Yih Wey and Leung Chii Lin.
Athletics: Roslinda Samsu, Yuan Yu Fang and Lee Hup Wei.
Badminton: Lee Chong wei, Wong Choon Hann, Koo Kien Keat, Tan Boon Heong, Lee Wan Wah, Choong Tan Fook. Wong Mew Choo, Wong PeiTty and Chin Ee Hui.
Cycling: Azizul Hasni Awang, Josiah Ng, Mohd Edrus Yunus and Mohd Rizal Tisin.
Sailing: Dr Kevin Lim.
Shooting: Hasli Izwan Amir Hasan.
Tekwondo: Elaine Teo and Che Chew Chan.
Weightlifting: Amirul Hamizan Ibrahim.
-- BERNAMA
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