By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Sept 2: Sarawak aims to secure at least 30 gold medals in para-athletics in the upcoming Para Malaysian Games (Para Sukma) 2024.
Minister of Women, Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development Sarawak (KPWK) Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said it has been announced that Sarawak is eyeing no less than 83 gold medals in total throughout Para Sukma and reclaiming the championship title from Sabah on their home turf.
“Para-athletics plays an important role throughout the biennial event because it has the largest number of events. Therefore, we must get as many medals from para-athletics as possible.
“Hence, our target is to get 30 gold medals from para-athletics and secure gold medals from the other sports events,” she said during her visit to para-athletes’ training session at Sarawak Stadium here today.
Para Sukma 2024 which is expected to take place in Kuching divisions from Sept 22 to 28, will see the participation of 1,290 athletes from 15 contingents across Malaysia, namely Sarawak (213 athletes), Sabah (146), Johor (112), Selangor (100), Perak (88), Penang (81), Kedah (76), Terengganu (75), Negeri Sembilan (71), Perlis (64), Melaka (62), Pahang (57), Kelantan (48), Kuala Lumpur (33), and Labuan (64).
The Games will feature 328 events across ten sports, namely para-athletics (134 events), para-swimming (60), para-powerlifting (24), para-chess (23), para-tenpin bowling (22), para lawn bowls (20), para-ping pong (15), para-archery (14), para-badminton (13), and boccia (9).
The venues will vary with the para-athletics events scheduled to be held at the Sarawak Stadium (new building) and Sarawak State Stadium (old building), para-tenpin bowling at Megalanes Emart Batu Kawa, para-archery at Archery Range Petra Jaya, para-chess at Raia Hotel, boccia at Dewan Persatuan Bola Keranjang Sarawak Kuching, para-swimming at Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre, para-badminton at Dewan Persatuan Badminton Sarawak at BDC, para-lawn bowls at Petra Jaya Multipurpose Arena, para-ping pong at SJK Chung Hua No. 3, and para-powerlifting at the Multipurpose hall at Sarawak Youth and Sports Department.
For the record, in Para Sukma 2022, Sabah emerged as the champion with 54 gold medals, narrowly defeating Sarawak, which secured 50.
Sarawak was the Para Sukma champion 13 consecutive times, from 1994 to 2018. — DayakDaily
