I Am Disappointed Hup Wei Did Not Inform Earlier - Zolkples

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- National Sports Council (NSC) director- general Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong today expressed disappointment that national high jumper Lee Hup Wei had declined to participate in the SEA Games in Myanmar next month.

"If it is true that Hup Wei does not want to participate, then I am very disappointed as we have gone through so much trouble to ensure that he would be in the selection," he told reporters at the NSC office in Bukit Jalil, here, Wednesday.

Hup Wei, 26, had said that he would not be participating in Myanmar as he had not fully recovered from his ankle injury.

A gold medallist in the three previous SEA games, he was not listed by the Malaysian Athletics Union after failing to be one of the two top national high jumpers in the 89th Malaysian Open Athletics Championship last month.

Zolkples said as a senior and experienced athlete, Hup Wei should not have acted the way he did considering that even Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin had gone to the ground to personally discuss with the federation to include him in the list.

"If Hup Wei really did not want to participate (in the Myanmar SEA Games), be should have told us earlier," he added.

-- BERNAMA