Malaysian athletes pilloried at home

Malaysia's athletes at the Asian Games got a pasting at home on Thursday following the expulsion of three of the squad for alleged drug taking.

Newspapers lamented that with 66 gold medals already handed out, the only top spot Malaysia has secured was the dubious honour of being the first to send home contestants for failing drug tests.

Three Malaysian sepak takraw players were kicked out on Wednesday after testing positive for morphine, sparking anger at home.

Sepak takraw is a 1,000-year-old Southeast Asian game that has evolved into a highly competitive sport requiring acrobatic skills and a wicker ball.

"Takraw disgrace!" a New Straits Times' Sports section headline read. The major English-language daily printed its main sports page in black and white instead of colour to mourn what it called a "black day for Malaysian sport".

The daily called for the immediate resignation of top officials at Malaysia's national sepak takraw association and demanded the government root out what it alleged was regular use of drugs such as cannabis by takraw players.

"The widespread use of ganja (cannabis) among players was a well-known secret," it wrote. "Ganja and Malaysian sepak takraw have been 'pot mates' for as long as we can remember," it said.

The sport was officially named "sepak takraw" in 1965. "Sepak" means kick in Malaysia, and the word "takraw" is Thai for ball or any object made of woven cane.

The game comes in two formats, circle and regu. In circle sepak takraw, five players kick a rattan ball around a circle seven metres in diameter and are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

The team is awarded points based on the difficulty level of the passes and how long they keep the ball in play.

In the regu variant, two teams of three play a high-speed version of volleyball, except that the players keep the coconut-sized wicker ball up mainly with their feet and heads and are not allowed to use their hands.

Morphine, the drug pinpointed in Busan, is banned in Malaysia and by the International Olympic Committee.

With the exit of the three banned players, Malaysia's gold medal chances in sepak takraw are all but over.

Malaysian sports fans are already lamenting the sad state of their football team, which in the 1970s was one of Asia's best.

But other gold medal prospects such as squash star Nicol David, swimmer Alex Lim Keng Liat and sailor Kevin Lim may help salvage Malaysian pride at Busan, Malaysian newspapers said.

In the last Games in Bangkok in 1998, Malaysia won five gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals. Officials spoke of hopes of winning eight medals in Busan.