Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Higher Education Institutions Sports Championship (SUIPTS) officially kicked off at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), bringing together 1,300 athletes from 19 contingents across the State.
The four-day tournament, held from June 12 to 15, features 10 sports, including badminton, netball, volleyball, football, futsal, track and field, sepak takraw, petanque, chess, and e-sports.
Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said the tournament is an important platform to nurture Sabah’s athletes for higher levels of competition.
“We see this tournament as a key platform to prepare our athletes for the ASEAN University Games (AUG) in Kuala Lumpur next year, where Malaysia will be the host,” he said after officiating the event at UMS Arena, Saturday.
Also present at the ceremony were UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Kasim Mansor, KKYS Chairperson cum KTYS CEO Datuk Tah Nia Jaman and others.
Mustapha also said they plan to make the tournament an annual event to foster unity among higher learning institutions in Sabah.
According to him, sports is not just about producing skilled graduates, but also to develop healthy, well-rounded individuals who can contribute meaningfully to the State and the nation.
