
17 Dec High-level exposure for para athletes at Sukan Sarawak
KUCHING: The Sukan Sarawak (SukSar) 2017 had provided a good exposure for the local Para athletes who can now have a more competitive avenue to showcase their talents and hone their potentials in sports.
This was mentioned by Sarawak’s Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister, YB Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah who said the organising of SukSar could enhance their performance and keep them in good shape as part of their preparation to compete in future major tournaments.
“On top of that we want our athletes to be consistent and help retain the Malaysia Paralympic Games title. The competition of this nature is very competitive and the athletes must be consistent,” she said during her recent visit to Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya for the medal presentation ceremony to winners of SukSar athletics event.
The Minister was enthused with SukSar which had also provided a platform for Para athletes to test their strength and identify their weaknesses so they can undergo a specific training programme.
And for that, she thanked Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) together with State Sports Council (MSNS) led by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ong Kong Swee for all their hard work to make sure that all the athletes will have the chance to compete and to see how they perform so that they can go further in bigger sporting events.
“This type of event is a good venue for identifying backup athletes and to achieve our goals of becoming Sukma (Sukan Malaysia) and Paralympic games champions in the future,” she enthused.
“We cannot just rely on the current batch of athletes, we must also have backups and new talents.” she said while appreciating the athletes’ parents for their sacrifices and supports, adding that the state government had always recognised the parents’ efforts in helping their children in achieving their dreams and ambitions.
“It is good that the parents are with their children in events like this and to provide them with the motivation during the competition,” she said.