KUCHING, Feb 28: The 2023 National Youth Boxing Championship, which will be held from March 6 to 11 at Dataran Kubah Ria in Petra Jaya here, will feature approximately 150 boxers aged 18 and under.
According to a Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas) news report, Sarawak Amateur Boxing Association (Saba) president Dato Rahman Lariwoo stated that all states, including the federal territories, have confirmed their participation in the tournament, which is being held in Sarawak for the first time.
“This tournament is very important for us to unearth boxers who have the potential to be included in Sarawak’s backup squad to face bigger tournaments like Sukma (Malaysia Games).
“And Saba will use this tournament to select the boxers we will list in the Sukma 2024 squad later,” he said after chairing the tournament’s final meeting on Monday (Feb 27).
According to Rahman, the tournament is also an important platform for testing Sarawak’s young boxers who are products of Saba’s development programme.
He stated that such a competitive tournament is needed to assess the abilities of Sarawak’s young boxers.
“As we already know, Sarawak may be chosen to host Sukma 2024. If it becomes a reality, Saba is committed to winning more gold medals than previously achieved in order to assist the Sarawak contingent in emerging as champions,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rahman thanked the Sarawak Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Entrepreneur Development (Mysed), Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC), and Sarawak Sports Council (MSNS) for their assistance in bringing the prestigious tournament to Sarawak.
Simultaneously, he invited local boxing fans to come and energise the atmosphere at Dataran Kubah Ria in support of the participating Sarawak boxers.
According to him, Mysed minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah will officiate at tournament’s closing ceremony and present prizes to the winners.
Several weight categories will be contested, with daily matches beginning at 3pm and lasting until late at night. — DayakDaily
