By Karen Bong
KUCHING, June 14: Sarawak athletes need to win more than 50 gold medals at the upcoming 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2022 to be held in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 29 to Oct 8 this year in order to be in the top three.
Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said that Sarawak athletes are expected to compete in 31 events which has been agreed to in the last meeting chaired by the Federal Minister of Youth and Sports and attended by all sports councils across the nation.
“However, we have yet to finalise the number of athletes who will be going to the Sukma Games but in every Sukma, Sarawak’s contingent is among the largest.
“My hope is that Sarawak must win more than 50 gold medals, otherwise there would be a weaker chance for Sarawak to emerge as the overall champion or grab the second or third positions,” he said during a press conference at his office here today.
Abdul Karim also revealed that Sarawak has its own strategy whereby the athletes involved will enter a training camp at least 50 days before the actual event begins.
“I will announce the target of medals that Sarawak should achieve during the handing over of the flag to the contingent so that it will be more accurate,” he added.
Meanwhile, the 20th Sukma, which was supposed to have been held in Johor from March 6 to 14, 2020, was postponed several times due to the Covid-19 pandemic before it was decided that the National Sports Council should organise it in the Klang Valley. — DayakDaily
