KOTA BHARU, The Kelantan sepak takraw squad is targeting at least one medal in the event at the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak in August.
Kelantan Sukma sepak takraw squad manager Farizal Yusoff said his side is realistic in setting targets.
“We promised the Kelantan Sports Council to bring at least one medal regardless of the colour of the medal.
“In the last edition in Kuala Lumpur we failed to deliver any medals to Kelantan and we want to make amends this SUKMA,” he told Bernama recently.
Commenting further, Farizal said the preparation of the players who will be brought to Sarawak went smoothly under the guidance of coaches Suhari Nordin and Asyraf Mamat.
According to him, a total of 14 players will be brought to Sarawak to participate in four events, namely team, regu and doubles as well as quadrant.
“Therefore, to ensure that our players are ready for the real match, the management has arranged a number of friendly matches, including against the Terengganu squad and the Terengganu Malaysia Spo
rts School squad and also participated in the Kelantan open tournament,” he said.
He said based on the friendly matches and the tournaments they participated in, the players are ready.
“We are confident that with the determination of the coaches, players, MSN and the state government this time, the squad will achieve the target of one medal in Sarawak,” he said.
SUKMA 2024 is scheduled to take place from August 17 to 24 involving nine divisions in Sarawak, namely Kuching, Samarahan, Serian, Sri Aman, Betong, Sibu, Mukah, Bintulu and Miri.
This year’s Games saw 37 types of sports contested involving 488 events consisting of 236 men’s events, 217 women’s events and another 35 mixed men’s and women’s events in addition to bringing together 12,619 athletes and officials.
SUKMA, which was introduced in 1986, has been organised in Sarawak twice, in 1990 and 2016.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
