By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
KLANG, Sept 7 — The special reward given by the Selangor government to its outstanding athletes would encourage them to keep pursuing excellence.
Gold medalist M Thinaah from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games said the incentive had boosted her spirits to training better in advance of upcoming competitions.
“As of now, I am focusing on individual training to improve my performance before competing in the Denmark and France Open next month because my partner Pearly Tan is injured.
“I hope she will have a speedy recovery, that’s what matters the most. Her recovery period is estimated to be between four to six weeks,” said Thinaah, who received a cash reward of RM23,000.
Thinaah, 24, was among 28 other Selangor athletes who received the incentive totalling RM92,900 after winning medals in the Hanoi SEA Games 2021 and the Commonwealth Games this year.
Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah had officiated the presentation of the award ceremony at Istana Alam Shah, here yesterday.
Meanwhile, ping pong player Choong Javen, who brought home a silver in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, said that he did not expect to receive the incentive as his focus was on the game.
“I wasn’t expecting this. Even so, I am happy to receive the incentive. During the match, I only focused on the game and I too, was surprised when I got to contribute a medal to the country.
“I truly appreciate the reward and as it encourages me to strive better in the upcoming games to contributing a gold medal to Malaysia,” he said.
As for shot put athlete Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefl, who won a bronze medal at the Hanoi SEA Games, he was grateful for the incentive from the state government.
“This would help boost motivation to the athletes in improving their performance to achieve better.
“I am done for this year and have no more games to compete in. However, I will continue to focus on the upcoming events next year,” said Ziyad, who hails from Gombak.
At the Hanoi SEA Games, Selangor athletes consisted of 62 individuals out of a total of 612 national athletes, of which 27 contributed medals to the nation's overall tally of 39 golds and sixth place among the participating countries.
In the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, up to two gold medals and one silver medal were contributed by Selangor athletes, which enabled the Malaysian contingent to garner tenth place out of 43 participating nations.
