Daily Express Subscriber
Sign in to your account.

Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s para athletes are urged to defend their overall title at the 21st Para-Sukma in Sarawak scheduled to be held from September 22-28.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin said this after the State flag handing over ceremony at the Youth and Sports Department in Putatan on Monday.

“Our target is to defend the overall title we won in 2022 and we are not setting any medal target for the athletes in this year’s Para Sukma.

“The training of our para athletes has always been ongoing and I am certain that it is the same for other states, so we are not sure which sports will deliver for the contingent but the important thing is for us to defend the overall title.

“Furthermore, we have a bigger contingent this year with a total of 145 athletes as compared to only 109 in 2022,” he said.

He also hopes the RM10,000 reward as incentive for each gold medallist which is an increase of RM5,000 from RM5,000 in 2022 will further boost the athletes’ spirit and they will fight as hard as possible to bring home more gold medals for the State.

At the Para Sukma in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, Sabah dethroned Sarawak to win the overall title for the first time with 54 gold, 36 silver and 35 bronze medals.

This year Sabah will participate in all the 10 sports to be staged – tenpin bowling, ping pong, swimming, powerlifting, lawn bowl, chess, badminton, archery, athletics and the newly introduced  Boccia.

Ellron also said a total of 69 officials will be accompanying the athletes to ensure their safety and welfare throughout the seven-day event in Kuching.

Meanwhile, also present at the ceremony were Youth and Sports Ministry’s permanent secretary Datuk Mansur Asun, Sabah Sports Council director Asneh Mohd Noor and Pesron Sabah (Sabah Sports and Recreation Association For People With Disabilities) president Tan Hwa Koon.