Deputy Youth and Sports Minister identifies aquatics, badminton, and cycling among sports with medal potential for the 2026 Asian Games.
KUALA LUMPUR: Aquatics, badminton, cycling, archery, squash, karate, and wushu have been identified as sports with potential to contribute medals at next year’s Asian Games.
Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abdul Halim stated that weightlifting, lawn bowls, para athletics, para lawn bowls, and para powerlifting are the sports with medal potential for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
He said the ministry launched the special ASIAKOM project this year to prepare athletes for the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya and the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
The project focuses on 39 athletes from nine sports, emphasising training, competition exposure, coaching management, training camps, and sports science and medical support.
The number of sports involved will be adjusted based on performance at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand.
Adam Adli was responding to a question from Datuk Abdul Khalib Abdullah regarding the ministry’s strategy to nurture grassroots sports talent and the current status and performance outlook for the next Olympic and Asian Games.
He said several outstanding achievements by current national athletes have strengthened confidence that Malaysia is on the right track to make history with its first-ever Olympic gold medal at the 2028 Games. – Bernama
ALSO READ: MSN pledges athlete success to repay government’s Budget 2026 trust
