DEAFLYMPICS 2025: CDM TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY AFTER MISSING OUT ON THREE-GOLD TARGET

From Farah Najihah Zuraimi

TOKYO, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- “My sincere apologies to all Malaysians.” That’s the honest reaction of chef de mission (CDM) Mohd Yusri Abdul Ghani after the national contingent ended their Deaflympics Tokyo 2025 campaign with a medal haul of just one gold, two silvers and one bronze - way off the three-gold target set by the Malaysian Deaf Sports Association (MSDeaf).

He reiterated that he will take full responsibility for their failure, absolving the 25 athletes of any blame, saying they have given it their best throughout the Games despite certain technical, psychological and physical limitations.

“Our athletes put up encouraging performances in the Jakarta SEA Deaf Games, but here, in Japan, the coach said some of them looked nervous and out of sorts when taking on much bigger and taller athletes.

“Psychologically, these things can make you lose hope and focus, a little. Still, we are proud that the athletes managed to break a few records,” he said.

He said this after this after the national bowlers missed out on a place in the second round of the mixed team event by a single pin at the Higashiyamato Grand Bowl yesterday, thus denying Malaysia their last chance to add another medal to their haul.

With mixed team bowling being the final event for the national contingent on the penultimate day of the quadrennial Games, Malaysia had to be contented with one gold (men’s doubles bowling), two silvers (women’s doubles bowling and men’s karate individual kumite below 84kg) and one bronze (mixed doubles badminton).

MSDeaf had earlier projected two more gold medals from the badminton squad. Unfortunately, the shuttlers failed to deliver the goods despite undergoing intensive training much earlier.

Mohd Yusri said the earlier medal target was made based on current performance analysis and taking into consideration the cold weather, which led to the contingent arriving in Miyoshi City on Nov 4 for the Nov 15-26 Games to acclimatise to the conditions in Japan.

He, however, felt that the acclimatisation period was insufficient and will discuss with the national governing body to send the athletes to more international-standard competitions so that they can work on their mental strength.

“They do compete in other championships. For example, we sent our athletes to compete with able-bodied athletes and also to world deaf championships. However, there are limited number of such championships.

“We have attended meetings to give our views about organising championships based on events like able-bodied athletes,” he said.

At the 2022 edition of the Deaflympics in Brazil, Malaysia returned home with two gold medals through the women’s doubles badminton event and the bowling squad.

Previously, the MADANI Government approved an additional allocation of RM3 million to MSDeaf to strengthen the training, logistics and needs of athletes ahead of Deaflympics Tokyo.

Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh announced lucrative incentives - RM80,000 for gold, RM40,000 for silver and RM20,000 for bronze - as a form of motivation and appreciation for the athletes.

-- BERNAMA