KUALA LUMPUR: Athletics is seen as a gold mine for Malaysia at the Asean University Games (AUG), which start tomorrow in Surabaya and Malang, Indonesia.
The Malaysian contingent have been set a 35-gold target.
Contingent management committee chairman Datuk Pekan Ramli said that a performance analysis shows that athletics can be a major contributor of gold medals for Malaysia.
Pekan also feels that athletics can contribute at least 10 gold medals for the country at this edition of the AUG.
"Ahead of the AUG in Indonesia, the team managers have analysed athletes that they know of in Southeast Asia. From that, they have set a target of 35 gold for our contingent," said Pekan.
"We have also taken into account the sports that the hosts are strong at, that is why we are targeting 35 gold. However, in my opinion, we can win more than that.
"We are putting our hope in athletics, and according to our analysis, we have 10 gold in the bag. We also have Shereen Samson Vallabouy and Azeem Fahmi."
Pekan also believes that a few other sports can contribute to the 35-gold target, among them combat sports and swimming.
"Even though host Indonesia is strong in silat, karate and taekwondo, we believe that combat sports can contribute gold medals for the contingent. Another sport that can win gold medals is swimming," he added.
The 35-gold target is the same as for the 2022 edition in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.
However, the contingent went on to surpass that target by bringing home 49 gold medals.
