KOTA MARUDU: The Kota Marudu contingent will send four new entries to the 9th Sabah Games (Saga) in Keningau, which will be held from Dec 7 to 13.
In total they will compete in 12 different sport events with the participation of 176 athletes.
The 12 types of sports participated by the Kota Marudu contingent include badminton, football, silat, takraw, track, cycling and the four new events – pentaque, archery, muay thai and rugby.
Tandek assemblywoman Datuk Anita Baranting said she did not target for gold numbers but hoped the contingent to exceed its previous achievements.
Anita said at the 8th Saga in Sandakan in 2017, the contingent won four gold medals and finished seventh in more than 20 entries.
“What is important is to maintain health and safety, not to push too hard to reach the target, dot the best and keep the sports spirit alive,” she said when speaking at the opening ceremony of Kota Marudu contingent participation to the games.
According to Anita, the four gold medals received during the 8th Saga were a result of hard work and training as well as the continuing spirit of the athlete and coach.
“I see that the spirit of sports has been instilled since the elementary school, and the participation in sports events from the district’s children has been immense.
“Even we are from rural areas where there are shortages of sports facilities, we are able to bring home a gold medal,” she said.
Meanwhile, the contingent) Arnold Joibi said in addition to the RM32,000 allocation from the State Sports Council, their contingent also received RM13,000 from the assemblymen allocation as well as from Tandek Community Development Leader (RM2,000).
According to Arnold, they hoped to return with at least four gold medals from the games.
Meanwhile, the Silat team aiming for a gold medal and all of their participants set targets to bring home the medal.
One of the athletes, Nur Anthasa Asyiqien Vevnon, 19, said their team’s first participation in the 8th Saga in Sandakan won the bronze medal.
Nur said, despite training at a disadvantage, they set high goals of bringing home a gold medal.
