THE Penang contingent is targeting 26 gold, 20 silver and 44 bronze medals at the 20th Sukma (Malaysia Games) this year.
The 20th Sukma will be held from Sept 16 to 24 at the Klang Valley in Kuala Lumpur.
State Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee said the target is achievable and realistic based on the athletes’ current form.
“The target also is based on the athletes’ overall performances, rankings and achievements in the previous competitions that they had participated in.
“Although we aim for 26 golds, the Penang contingent can get more than that.
“Every Penang athlete has also gone through a mandatory physical fitness test.
“In other words, we bring only the best of the best in Penang! And I hope they will do their best to make the state proud,” Soon told a press conference in Komtar today.
Also present were Komtar assemblyman Teh Lai Heng, Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng Soon Siang, Batu Lancang assemblyman Ong Ah Teong, Sungai Pinang assemblyman Lim Siew Khim, Penang State Sports Council (MSNPP) director Harry Chai Heng Hua and Penang Island City Council (MBPP) councillor Connie Tan.
According to Soon, based on the Sukma Supreme Committee meeting on July 2 this year, there will be 31 sports and 426 events for this edition, organised by the National Sports Council.
“Two demonstration sports, namely kabaddi and silambam, will also be contested in the 20th Sukma.
“The 31 sports that will feature in Sukma are aquatics, weightlifting, badminton, cycling, football, netball, basketball, volleyball, e-sports, gymnastics, golf, hockey, judo, canoeing, karate, cricket, lawn bowling, archery, shooting, muay thai, track and field, sailing, silat, petanque, rugby, sepak takraw, squash, tennis, tenpin bowling, boxing and wushu.
“The Penang contingent, consisting of 453 athletes, will compete in all 31 sports and also the two demonstration sports as well.
“In total, there are 687 people in the Penang contingent, including athletes, coaches, managers, officers and media personnel,” he said.
Soon also announced that he will be the chef-de-mission for the Penang contingent team for the 20th Sukma edition.
Chai said from the 26 gold medals targeted, most of it will come from a few sports categories such as martial arts, water sports and some from individual sports.
“We might also receive a surprise from the group events.
“I will not go into details on which sports we expect to get golds. We prefer to keep it as our ‘secret weapon’,” he said.
Soon also urged all Penangites who are staying in Kuala Lumpur or Selangor to come and support the Penang contingent.
“Those who live here and want to go to Kuala Lumpur to watch Sukma and support our athletes are also welcome.
“They can get a full schedule about the Sukma games from the MSNPP website,” added Soon.
During the press conference, Soon also unveiled an official Sukma collar T-shirt and windbreaker jacket for the Penang contingent, which is a combination of blue pearl, yellow and white colours.
Story and pix by Riadz Akmal