SEPANG, Sept 14 — There is no issue of medal winners at prestigious championships such as the Commonwealth Games joining the 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma) which will be officially commencing on Saturday.
National Sports Council (MSN) director-general Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail said the participation of such athletes would be a gauge for athletes of the same age competing in the local sports championships.
“We try to give the opportunity to every athlete in this country to compete in Sukma. This is the basis of Sukma. Athletes who were successful in the Commonwealth Games may come from states they have not represented the state before at Sukma.
“So, this is the opportunity for them to compete on behalf of their state to make their state proud of them,” he said when met by reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after welcoming the return of the national team who emerged champions at the World Dodgeball Championships in Canada today.
Among the Commonwealth medal winners in Birmingham, who are competing in Sukma are gold medalist Mohamad Aniq Kasdan (weightlifting) and badminton men's singles silver medalist Ng Tze Yong.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) secretary-general Datuk M. Jana Santhiran, who is Sukma Organising Committee chairman, said the ministry and MSN will ensure no events would be dropped in future editions due to insufficient participants.
“I think this (year) is the only time we have this problem. In the coming years, KBS together with MSN will make sure all the games will have enough participants. This is because of Covid-19 and all that. We have to be fair to states that couldn’t prepare their athletes,” he said.
Earlier, there were issues of dropping events such as athletics and diving due to insufficient minimum participation from state contingents to proceed with the contest.
Even though the organiser reduced the minimum conditions of eight states to six for this edition, participation was still insufficient to proceed with the events.
— Bernama
