11 Mar KEEN INTEREST ON 21ST ASIA MASTER ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIP 2019
KUCHING – There are keen interest shown by veteran athletes from many countries worldwide for the coming 21st Asia Masters Athletics Championship 2019 (21st AMAC) to be held in Kuching on December next year.
This was stated by Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Sarawak, YB Datuk Snowdan Lawan who expressed optimism for the prestigious event to achieve the expected entries of 3,500 athletes coming from over 40 countries.
“We are very enthusiastic about next year’s AMAC because many of the competitors have not been to Sarawak but they have heard so much about us from those who have been here. Many are coming to join us in the event next year because they are curious about Sarawak” he enthused.
According to him, the 21st AMAC is expected to attract a lot of participation because it is also being held in conjunction with Visit Sarawak Year in 2019 and the event is also being highlighted in many of the state’s tourism promotion campaigns overseas.
He said the Asia Masters Athletics Association (AMA) is also playing its role in promoting next year’s event among its members who come from throughout Asia region namely those in the International Associations of Athletics Federation (IAAF) which has 215 member nations.
On another development, YB Datuk Snowdan recently attended a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony with AMA which was held at Chiang Mai, Thailand.
In the signing ceremony, the minister represented Sarawak Government while AMA was represented by its president, Mr Viwat Vigrantanoros, who is also from the Sports Authority of Thailand.
The MoU was also witnessed by patron of Malaysian Masters Athletic Association, Datuk Seri Dr V. Pulainthiran and AMA secretary general, Mr Sivapragasam Sivasambo, vice president of AMA Mr Wang Dawei while Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) was represented by its Head of Engineering, Mr Gordon Hon.
The launching ceremony of 21st AMAC 2018 logo was held on 29 January in Kuching and performed by Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, YB Datuk Abdul Karim Hamzah who was accompanied by Sarawak Welfare, Community Well-being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister, YB Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah, Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president, S.M. Nasaruddin S.M. Nasimuddin and Sarawak Masters Athletic Association (SMAA) president, Datuk Seri Azman Samaon.