THE official draw for team competition took place in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday (18 July 2017), promising thrills and excitement as the 29th SEA Games Kuala Lumpur 2017 draws closer.
Competition starts early beginning 14 August, four days ahead of the official opening ceremony on 19 August at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. The Games ends on 30 Aug.
The nine team sports involved in Saturday’s draw include football, badminton, basketball, water polo, equestrian (polo), cricket, sepaktakraw, table tennis and volleyball.
The draw was attended by the Games’ stakeholders and officials from SEA Games Federation (SEAGF), Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), the Malaysia Organising Committee (MASOC) Kuala Lumpur 2017 and representatives from participating nations, sports associations and guests.
WATER POLO
Singapore and Thailand remain as hot favourites in the men’s and women’s competition respectively, while Malaysia will be banking on home ground advantage to turn the tables on the favourites.
Both the men’s and women’s competition will be held on a round-robin format with Indonesia drawn to fill up the top spot of the table, followed by Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and defending champion Singapore.
In the women’s competition, four teams will be gunning for honours with Indonesia listed placed at the top of the table, followed by Singapore, defending champion Thailand and Malaysia.
Water polo was first introduced into the SEA Games in the Kuala Lumpur 2001 Games and was subsequently included in the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Games.
Competition Dates: 15 – 20 August, 2017
Venue: National Aquatics Centre, KL Sports City, Bukit Jalil
WATER POLO (Men)
Round Robin
1. Indonesia
2. Malaysia
3. Philippines
4. Thailand
5. Singapore (defending champion)
WATER POLO (Women)
Round Robin
1. Indonesia
2. Singapore
3. Thailand (defending champion)
4. Malaysia
BASKETBALL (Men)
The national men’s team will have to be at their best if they were to harbour hopes of clinching the gold medal at the SEA Games basketball competition scheduled at MABA Stadium next month.
Host Malaysia has been pit against hot favourite Philippines, who have won a whopping 17 gold medals to date, in Group A of the competition. The two other teams in the group are Thailand and Myanmar.
It was 28 years ago since Malaysia – which hosted and won the only gold in the men’s event in 1989 – denied reigning champions Philippines to a perfect record of 18 gold medals.
Silver medallist Indonesia are in Group B and will have Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam as company. Wildcard entry Laos, who will be making their debut in the competition, has also been bunched in the group. Timor-Leste, which participated in the last edition, have opted not to join the event this year.
Group A:
A1. Philippines
A2. Thailand
A3. Malaysia
A4. Myanmar
Group B:
B1. Indonesia
B2. Singapore
B3. Cambodia
B4. Vietnam
B5. Laos
Competition Dates: 20 – 26 August, 2017
Venue: MABA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur
CRICKET
MALAYSIA, aiming to win two out of the three gold medals at stake in cricket, can look forward to achieving their target following Saturday’s sports draw in Kuala Lumpur.
Cricket makes its debut in the region’s biggest Games next month and Malaysia has set its eyes on winning the two gold on offer in the men’s T20 and F50 events scheduled at Kinrara Oval from 17 to 23 August.
The women’s T20 competition will be tougher for Malaysia which are up against the highly ranked Thailand as well as Indonesia and Singapore.
The men’s T20 competition will have Singapore and Malaysia leading Group A and B respectively. In Group A, Singapore are together with Indonesia and Vietnam while Malaysia meets Myanmar and Thailand in Group B.
The men’s F50 competition meanwhile will involve five nations – Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand and hosts Malaysia.
CRICKET T20 (Men)
Group A:
Singapore (1st seed)
Indonesia
Vietnam
Group B:
Malaysia (2ndseed)
Myanmar
Thailand
CRICKET F50 (Men)
Round Robin:
A. Singapore
B. Myanmar
C. Indonesia
D. Thailand
E. Malaysia
CRICKET T20 (Women)
Round Robin:
A. Myanmar
B. Malaysia
C. Thailand
D. Indonesia
E. Singapore
Competition Dates: 17 – 29 August, 2017
Venue: Kinrara Oval, Kuala Lumpur
TABLE TENNIS
Singapore, ranked world’s number three, emerged as the clear favourites in the SEA Games table tennis women’s competition. The highly ranked Singaporean women team have been grouped with Vietnam and Indonesia while second-ranked Thailand are pitted against host Malaysia, Philippines and Myanmar.
In the 2015 Games, Singapore emerged overall champion, winning six out of the seven gold medals contested in Singapore.
In the men’s competition, Malaysia have been placed in Group A together with Singapore, Philippines, Laos and Myanmar. Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia are in Group B.
Table Tennis (Men)
GROUP A
A1. Singapore
A2. Malaysia
A3. Philippines
A4. Laos
A5. Myanmar
GROUP B
B1. Vietnam
B2. Indonesia
B3. Thailand
B4. Cambodia
Table Tennis (Women)
GROUP X
X1. Singapore
X2. Vietnam
X3. Indonesia
GROUP Y
Y1. Thailand
Y2. Malaysia
Y3. Philippines
Y4. Myanmar
VOLLEYBALL
Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore will again be the main challengers in both men and women volleyball competition, to be held at MITEC.
In the men’s competition, Thailand, winner in the last three SEA Games, will have Myanmar, Cambodia and host Malaysia as opponents in Group A.
2015 silver medallist Vietnam and Indonesia, 2015 bronze mdallist, will be up against each other in Group B, along Philippines and Timor Leste.
Meanwhile, in the women competition, host Malaysia have been grouped with Philippines and Vietnam in Group B while defending champion Thailand, which has been on a winning strike in SEA Games since 1989, are up against bronze medallist Indonesia and Myanmar in Group A.
VOLLEYBALL (Men)
Group A
A1. Myanmar
A2. Malaysia
A3. Cambodia
A4. Thailand
Group B
B1. Philippines
B2. Indonesia
B3. Timor Leste
B4. Vietnam
VOLLEYBALL (women)
Group A
A1. Myanmar
A2. Thailand
A3. Indonesia
Group B
B1. Philippines
B2. Malaysia
B3. Vietnam
