Sailing squad first to leave for Tokyo Olympics

SEPANG: The national sailing squad became the first of the Malaysian contingent to leave for Japan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which will be held from July 23 until Aug 8.

Four athletes and three coaches left for Tokyo from the KL International Airport (KLIA) via Malaysia Airlines Flight MH070 at 9.50 am today and are expected to arrive at Narita International Airport at 6.05 pm.

The four are Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy who will compete in the men's laser event, Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (women's laser), Nuraisyah Jamil and Juni Karimah Noor Jamali (both in the women's International 470 ) in Tokyo 2020.

The squad was given a send-off by National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, Malaysian Sailing Association president Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim and Malaysia Airlines Berhad chief operating officer Ahmed Luqman Mohd Azmid. .

When met by reporters, Ahmad Shapawi said that although the sailing competition is scheduled to take place from July 25 until Aug 4, the national squad left early to make logistics preparations, for training and to familiarise themselves with the weather as well as the environment at the venue.

"We wish them a safe journey. We have reminded them to stay safe, especially on the way so that there is no violation of any of the protocols that we have set such as avoiding physical contact with people.

"Upon reaching Tokyo, they must go through a screening test and isolation for three days. Then, they enter a "bubble" and have to undergo a saliva test every day, we will abide by all the rules set by the organisers," he said.

For this Olympic Games, Malaysia will be represented by 30 athletes competing in 27 events comprising 10 types of sports.

They are Khairul Anuar Mohamad, Syaqiera Mashayikh (archery), Lee Hup Wei, Azreen Nabila Alias (athletics), Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom (track cycling), Lee Zii Jia, Soniia Cheah, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Chow Mei Kuan, Lee Meng Yean, Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying (badminton).

Apart from that, Pandelela Rinong, Cheong Jun Hoong, Leong Mun Yee, Nur Dhabitah Sabri, Ng Yan Yee (diving), Gavin Green, Kelly Tan (golf), Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Jeremiah Loo Phay Xing (gymnastics), Suryani Mohamed Taibi (shooting), Welson Sim and Phee Jinq En (swimming) are also representing the country for the Games.

The second and third batch of athletes are expected to leave for Tokyo on July 17 and 25, respectively.

-- BERNAMA