| By Lena Liew MALAYSIA is satisfied with DagocÂ?s preparations for the 15th Asian Games 73 days away, declared its Minister for Youth and Sports, Azalina Othman Said, during a visit to Doha on Monday. Â?We visited the Dagoc headquarters and the AthleteÂ?s Village earlier today ... which we were told was about 80% ready,Â? the minister told a media briefing after meeting with Dagoc director-general Abdulla Khalid al-Qahtani and the AthleteÂ?s Village Operations manager Abdulreda N Abdulla Najar.
Â?The Director-General assured us that despite mandatory reduced working hours during the upcoming fasting month of Ramadan, the organisers and contractors will work two shifts to ensure that everything was ready in time,Â? she said on Monday night.
Â?On our part, we are in full gear preparing our athletes with the view that the Games will take place as planned,Â? she added.
Malaysia is sending around 230 athletes and 120 officials to the games, said Chef-de-Mission A Sani Karim.
Â?Our best bets for gold medals lie in Squash, as we have the World No. 1 woman player, and the Asian No. 1 and No. 2 men players,Â? said Sani.
Â?Our chance for gold in the other sports are hard to say at this moment ... since anything can happen in coming 73 days and throughout the 15 days of competition,Â? he said, making mention of Bowling, Badminton, Karate, Wushu, Cyling, Sailing and Golf as gold medals prospects for Malaysia.
The Malaysia media had earlier this month reported a target of eight golds - two more than the six golds Malaysia brought home from Busan in 2002.
Â?We prefer to be conservative in our expectations ... the important thing is the gradual improvement in our performance,Â? said Azalina.
Â?Of course, everybody wants the glamour of (winning) gold. But the pursuit of gold medals must not be at all cost. The greater cause must be the development of our youth towards nation-building,Â? she stressed.
Â?As the board member for Asia in the World Anti-Doping Agency, I cannot stress enough the evils of performance enhancing substances. I assure you that we in Malaysia take a very strong stand against doping,Â? she added.
The minister later graced a dinner with some 60 Malaysian expats and launched the Doha Malaysian Cheers Group by accepting contributions from its sponsors and partners.
The group was set up by the Malaysians on August 31, to mobilise and organise Malaysian expats who could provide moral and logistical support to Malaysian athletes and supporters.
The minister and her delegation departed Doha on Tuesday after a two-day visit which included a meeting with Qatar National Olympic Council secretary-general Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
They also visited Khalifa Stadium and ASPIRE Academy where they held talks for joint co-operation between Aspire and MalaysiaÂ?s National Sports Council, which operates two sports academies outside Kuala Lumpur. | 
