The national wushu exponents will be heading into uncharted waters when they compete for honours at the Hanoi Sea Games on May 12-23.
That is because they do not have enough information about their rivals.
The Covid-19 outbreak, which began in 2020, brought wushu to a standstill as competitions were cancelled.
To make matters worse, half of the Malaysian squad contracted Covid-19 at a recent National Sports Council (NSC) training camp.
And to counter the problem, Wushu Federation of Malaysia (WFM) president Datuk Chong Kim Fatt said the national body will be organising an internal competition for their 11 Sea Games-bound athletes.
WFM will also invite backup and junior exponents for the meet.
"In my 20 years of involvement in the sport, this is the first time we are heading to a Games without proper information on the competitors and not knowing where our athletes stand.
"Our exponents have participated in only a few online and internal competitions since 2020.
"So the internal meet will help us gauge our exponents' performances.
"This is important because it is a busy year with a lot of competitions starting from the Sea Games," he said.
The other priority competitions this year are the Hangzhou Asian Games (in September), the World University Games in China (June), the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey (August) and the World Junior Championships in Indonesia (December).
Kim Fatt, however, hopes his exponents will deliver medals in Vietnam.
He said WFM have a general idea of how they would perform based on the results of recent internal and online competitions.
Former world champions Wong Weng Son (men's jianshu) and Tan Cheong Min (women's nandao) have not been picked for the Sea Games as their events will not be contested.
The Sea Games squad will comprise five Category A (fully funded) and six Category B (self-funded) exponents.
However, the WFM will try to raise funds to send another six Category B exponents to the biennial Games.
"As it stands, we have not secured the funds as well-wishers and sponsors, who usually help, are affected by the pandemic.
"It will cost between RM4,000 and RM5,000 to send one athlete to the Sea Games," he added.
LIST OF ATHLETES:
Category A: Clement Ting, Yeap Wai Kin, Tan Zhi Yan, Kelvin Teng, Sydney Chin.
Category B: Calvin Lee, Chong Jian Hwa, Vicky Hwa Chang, Mandy Cebelle Chen, Pang Pui Yee, Lee Jia Rong. --Bernama