Make c'ship an annual affair
Published on: Tuesday, September 01, 2015
Tawau: The Sabah International Open Championship can be made a yearly affair as a league to determine the standard of our local athletes as compared to their international counterparts.Minister of Youth and Sports, Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan hopes that it can be realised with the support from various parties not only from the government but also from the private sector, government linked companies (GLC), corporate bodies as well as individuals."With the support, we can make this meet as a league on a yearly basis in every district such as Tawau, Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Sandakan and Ranau before the grand finale.
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"And there in the finale, we will invite athletes from abroad to see how far our standard is in comparison with athletes of international level and qualities," he said.Tawfiq said this to media after the prize presentation at the closing of the two days 62nd Sabah International Open Championship from August 29 to August 30 at the Tawau Sports Complex here.Thirty-seven teams comprising of 381 athletes participated in the meet including athletes from Labuan, Melaka, Singapore, Sri Lanka and schools.Elaborating further Tawfiq said, the meet can serve as an exposure to our junior and senior athletes and he is happy with the performance shown by them while competing with athletes from abroad.
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"This is another step by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) in collaboration with Sabah Athletic Association to ensure that our athletetes are on the best path to shine, and to be the sport of choice with commendable achievement in higher level of sports like the SEA Games and other international meets," he said. When asked to comment on the victory by the Sabah Malaysia Sports School (SSMS) who won as the best Junior team, Tawfiq said that their athletes were unearthed from the grass root level and trained and guided to become potential athletes.
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"We saw the winners are from SSMS and this is the fruits from the government efforts through Education Department, the state and federal KBS through their Talent Identification Programme in every district. "They were enrolled in the sports school where their diet are being looked after without compromising their academics. And today it is proven that they were able to shine. It is indeed our hope that there can be the back up to our existing athletes to shine on the bigger stage," Tawfiq said.Meanwhile, Tawau Track and Field were the overall champions in the 62nd Sabah Open Athletics Championship and not Sabah Malaysia Sports School as earlier reported in a State broadsheeet (not Daily Express).They collected a total of six gold, two silver and three bronze medals in the two-day competition which concluded at the Tawau Sports Complex on Sunday.SEA Games athlete Fathin Mohd Yusuf was the toast of the team with three invidual gold medals in the women 100m, 200m and 400m as well as the 4 x 400m and 4 x 100m relay golds.Her feats also won her the best female athlete title while the team's other gold was won by Michael Chang in the Men Long jump event.Ranau came second in the competition with four golds, nine silvers and seven bronzes, and third place went to Montana Kinabalu Athletes with four golds, one silver and three bronzes while Sabah Malaysia Sports School only managed three golds, five silvers and three bronzes to finish in fourth spot.Sabah Malaysia Sports School were the undisputed junior overall champions with their massive haul of 14 golds, four silvers and two bronzes with second place Ranau only managing two golds, five silvers and two bronzes while Tawau had to settle in third place with one gold, four silvers and three bronzes.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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