Day: June 25, 2024

KUANTAN, Pahang will be fielding a contingent of 603 athletes to achieve a 40-gold medal haul at the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA XXI 2024) in Sarawak in August.

State Communication and Multimedia, Youth, Sports and Non-Governmental Organisations Committee chairman Fadzli Mohamad Kamal said based on his survey, there are several aspects that can still be improved in the contingent comprising 327 male and 276 female athletes, with 50 per cent of them being new athletes.

He said the state government is focusing seriously to better their previous ninth position at the last SUKMA to finish in the top five.

‘I have met several times with sports managers and coaches and have expressed the state’s determination to improve the performance of the Pahang contingent.

‘I have set at least 40 gold medals for the Pahang contingent to bring home with various initiatives implemented such as training abroad and an increase in athletes’ allowances,’ he said.

Fadzli said this after inspecting the boxing camp’s preparations
today and said four medal prospects will be sent to undergo training in Thailand before leaving for Sarawak.

He said the target of 40 gold medals was not just an ordinary decision but a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for himself and the Pahang State Sports Council.

He said that he will continue to go down to the field to meet athletes and coaches of other events to see for himself their preparations to ensure that the set target can be achieved.

The 21st Sukma Sarawak 2024 will take place from Aug 17-24.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

NIBONG TEBAL, Cooperation between component parties of the Unity Government is very good and much closer during the Sungai Bakap by-election campaign period compared to previously, PKR vice-president Chang Lih Kang said.

The close rapport is a result of experience gleaned from the seven previous by-elections and represents the strength of the Unity Government’s campaign in moving together as a Unity Machinery to secure victory for Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate for Sungai Bakap, Dr Joohari Ariffin.

‘I see that Barisan Nasional (BN) is going all out, so is DAP and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah). Now we have such tight knit cooperation.

‘So let’s strategise together and have a joint operations room for this by-election,’ he told reporters after attending a political talk in Padang Taman Puteri Gunong, Simpang Ampat here tonight.

Chang, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister said that the Penang state government’s track record and the PH candidate being born and raised in Sungai Bakap also re
presented strengths that will help the Unity Government retake the state seat, which was considered a PKR stronghold since 2008.

Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Saraswathy Kandasamy, who also attended the political talk tonight, said that the level of acceptance by voters, especially the Indian community, of Unity Government candidates was very good.

The Deputy National Unity Minister expressed her confidence that PKR would make up for its failure to defend the seat during the Penang state election last August by winning the seat in the by-election, especially with the help from machineries from all PH and BN component parties.

Joohari will take on Nibong Tebal PAS deputy chief Abidin Ismail, who is Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate in a straight fight for the Sungai Bakap seat on July 6, following the death of Sungai Bakap assemblyman Nor Zamri Latiff on May 24 due to stomach inflammation.

There are 39,279 registered voters – 39,222 ordinary voters and 57 postal voters – in this state constituency.

Sourc
e: BERNAMA News Agency

SURABAYA, The Malaysian contingent competing in the 2024 ASEAN University Games (AUG) is carrying high expectations from the country’s fans at the biennial meet, which will officially open here tonight.

This follows Malaysia’s decision to field high-profile athletes in a bid to secure gold medals, with a target of 35 golds set by the Higher Education Ministry.

Undoubtedly, the national athletes bear a heavy responsibility to ensure Malaysia finishes among the top three and maybe surpasses the 49-gold haul achieved at the 2022 edition in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.

The athletics team features three national record holders, Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi in men’s 100 metres (m), Umar Osman in men’s 400m and Shereen Samson Vallabouy in women’s 400m.

Men’s team compound archery national record holder Mohamad Syafiq Md Ariffin and two SEA Games 2023 gold medallists, taekwondo exponent Muhammad Syafiq Zuber and karateka Shahmalarani Chandran, will also be in action in the games, which runs until July 6.

The nation
al contingent will have to face the challenge from hosts Indonesia, who will certainly want to take advantage of competing on home ground to dominate the games and emerge overall champions.

Furthermore, the threat from defending champions Thailand cannot be ruled out.

The question is, can the Malaysian contingent meet the expectations placed on the shoulders of the national athletes to achieve the gold medal target?

In the 2022 edition, Malaysia emerged as the runners-up behind the hosts after winning 49 gold, 83 silver and 50 bronze medals.

The Malaysian contingent of 382 athletes and officials will compete in 18 out of the 20 events on offer, and Umar will be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the games.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, The men’s doubles event can be considered a ‘lucky charm’ for Malaysia, having opened the country’s Olympics medal account when siblings Datuk Razif Sidek-Datuk Seri Jalani Sidek won bronze as badminton was contested for the first time at the Barcelona 1992 edition.

The men’s doubles also contributed the country’s first silver medal through Datuk Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock at the Atlanta 1996 edition, in addition to silver from Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong at Rio 2016 and bronze from Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at Tokyo 2020.

Can the men’s doubles once again make history by contributing Malaysia’s first-ever gold in Paris when the world’s biggest event takes place from July 26 to Aug 11 this year?

Gold has eluded Malaysia since the country’s inaugural participation in the Melbourne 1956 Olympics, and Aaron-Wooi Yik will have to deal with the added pressure of being a gold medal prospect this time around.

The pair also holds the distinction of being Malaysia’s only badminton world champions so far
but Wooi Yik said they are not worried about the high expectations placed on their shoulders.

‘Of course, we have to be confident with our targets. We don’t always say it, but in our hearts, we do want gold. So, we have to work hard to achieve it and not put too much pressure on ourselves.

‘We have to understand that all players in men’s doubles also have good chances, so we just want to do our best for this Olympics. We don’t want to carry a big burden, just enjoy the Olympics,’ he said when met recently.

Aaron agreed with him, saying the men’s doubles competition is very open and believes that their extra night training sessions can give them the edge.

The pair had a chance to play at the Olympics venue, La Chapelle Arena, during the French Open last March, and Aaron said they are wary of the challenge posed by several top pairs in the world.

Their main challengers include world number one and Hangzhou Asian Games champions Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China, who have beaten Aaron-Wooi Yik in six of th
eir eight meetings. The China pair also won two Super 1000 tour titles this year – the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Open.

Aaron-Wooi Yik, ranked fifth in the world, also need to find an answer to the aggressive play and powerful smashes of India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Shirag Chetty.

Although the head-to-head record stands at 8-3 in favour of the Malaysian pair, Aaron-Wooi Yik lost in their last three meetings against the Indians, including at the Asian Games semi-finals in September last year.

Another pair that can shatter Aaron-Wooi Yik’s dream is world number four Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea, who lifted both the World Championship and BWF Word Tour Finals titles in 2023.

Aaron-Wooi Yik have beaten the Koreans only once in four meetings.

Profile:

Aaron Chia

Age: 27

Hometown: Batu Berendam, Melaka

Started playing badminton at four years old

Height: 168cm

Soh Wooi Yik

Age: 26

Hometown: Kuala Lumpur

Started playing badminton at four years old

Height: 185cm

As a pair

———–

Current ranking: world number five

Highest ranking: world number two (Nov 2023)

Olympics appearance: Second time

Achievements:

2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze

2022 World Championship gold in Tokyo

2023 World Championship bronze in Copenhagen

2022 Hangzhou Asian Games bronze in China

2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze in England

2023 Denmark Open champions in Odense

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, More than 13,000 students have benefitted from the free use of stadium facilities for the organisation of sports tournaments at the school level organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) and the Stadium Corporation of Malaysia (PSM) since October 2023, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the rental exemption initiative for schools aligns with the ministry’s efforts to popularise the use of sports facilities at the grassroots level.

‘Prior to the implementation of this rental exemption initiative, a rental rate of RM3,000 was charged for half-day use of Bukit Jalil National Stadium (SNBJ) and RM5,000 for one-day use. For non-government schools, they have to pay rent of RM4,000 for half-day use and RM8,000 for one-day use.

‘However, not all stadiums in Malaysia are under KBS’ supervision. There are stadiums administered by state government, local authority and even private entity. KBS has also held several meetings with local authorities to enc
ourage the implementation of similar initiative,’ she said in reply to Datuk Seri Panglima Madius Tangauli (PH-Tuaran) during Question Time.

Hannah said the initiative was open to all schools involving the use of the track and facilities at the National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Sports City, netball court and lawn ball field at the Bukit Kiara Sports Complex as well as the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium at the Jalan Duta Sports Complex.

On July 25 last year, Hannah said PSM gave a special offer to all schools to use SNBJ for free for two years specifically for the organisation of sports days.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency