"Zhai Jian" Guangzhou..."Annyeonghaseyo Incheon" !

As the 16th Asian Games come to a close, China once again set the bar very high for hosting world class sporting events. After the Beijing Olympics games, Guangzhou will prove to be tough act to follow for Icheon. Just like how London is beginning to realise how tough is it to compete with the extravagance of the Beijing Games.

For Malaysia, achieving the target of 9 gold medals is an excellent achievement considering that at one stage it looked impossible. In fact, we could even surpass the targeted number if not for some shortcomings Reflecting on the Malaysian contingent performance at the games, there's plenty of high points worth mentioning and also some not so high points.

Special praise should be given to those who contributed medals especially gold. Kicking off the gold trail is wushu queen Chai Fong Ying who followed up with her gold medal feat at the Doha games. Cyclist Azizul Hasni Awang won the gold in cycling keirin hands down and deservingly so, after being disqualified controversially at the Commonwealth Games. It was also Malaysia first gold in cycling in 40 years! Squash contributed three golds through our darling Nicol, pleasant surprise Azlan and the gutsy ladies team. R.Puvaneswaran & Ku Jin Keat said goodbye to the karate sport by contributing a gold each. Not very often the guys from the bowling team eclipsed the ladies but this time Alex Liew + Adrian Ang (men's double) and one personally from Alex ; contributed 2 golds in bowling.

You've made us proud

Despite losing to Pakistan in the men hockey finals, the Malaysian hockey team won over many critics by reaching their first ever final. Losing to Pakistan and missing out on a ticket to the 2012 Olympics is disappointing and one could say the team did not show up when it matters most (and possibility a bad hair day) but the determination and passion displayed by the team is something to be proud of for all Malaysians. The spirit of 1Malaysia was clearly displayed for all to see especially after the final whistle blew in the win over India. Seeing the coaches, officials and players from all races hug and brace each other is a win for all Malaysians.

Bright future

I should also mention the diving team and the women beach volleyball team who defied the odds to contribute us medals. In diving, we have some really talented divers which may just put us on the podium in the Olympics.

Now on to the not so high points. Losing to Thailand in the badminton team event is worrying and almost unthinkable. It's not so much the fact that Lee Chong Wei lost in the first singles (due to illness) but the lack of fight from the "backup" players. Sure they may be young and inexperience but surely not to the extent of losing to the Thais? The fact that the coaches put them in the team because they have faith in them proved that they have the potential.

And then there is Sepak Takraw. Not only did they bring back veterans who looked out of sorts but also they have the audacity of predicting a gold medal, failing which the president boldly (and arrogantly) said he will quit (at press time, he's still in office) . Don't get me wrong, it's ok to predict a gold but predicting and giving false hope to everyone because of naivety clearly showed that you're not aware of your team and your rivals. Watching the game; at times, I'd thought the Malaysians were more interested to entertain themselves by dancing around everytime they won a point. Although it's part of the game, but perhaps a little bit of humility knowing you're not the strongest team around?

I'm going to end this with football. This is a tough one to call. Many will argue that without the 3 red cards awarded by the referee during the match against China, it could turn out quite differently. Honestly , I don't think we will beat China even with 11 men on the field. The boys played well and showed great fight in earlier games despite the injuries to key players before the games but Malaysian football is a tricky one to call. You'll never know which team will turn up and considering the amount of money being poured into the sports, many will expect more. Not in terms of winning all major tournaments but a sense of direction and pride in Malaysian football.

Now on to Incheon, South Korea. Hopefully we'll see more gold medals and new faces stepping up =)