S’wak athletes need ‘champion’s mentality’ for Sukma victory, says Abd Karim

KUCHING (July 10): Sarawak athletes competing in the 21st Malaysia Games (Sukma) in August will need to adopt the champion’s mentality when competing against those from other states.

This was advocated by Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah who said Sukma is like a ‘battlefield’ that demands the right strategy and a determined mind from the athletes to win.

“Competing in Sukma is like going to war. If we want to go to war, we plan a strategy carefully.

“You must have the right mentality, the right outlook and the right motivation, especially our young athletes,” he said at a briefing session with the Sarawak contingent’s Chef de Mission (CDM) and Assistant Chef de Mission (ACDM) at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) on Tuesday.

Abdul Karim added that the athletes must also take advantage of competing at home to ensure that the title of overall champion returns to Sarawak after last winning it 30 years ago in 1994.

He stressed that Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg will also closely monitor the progress of the athletes throughout Sukma as he wants Sarawak to emerge victorious this time around.

“Of course, some of our athletes see athletes from other states as better than them.

“This is the role of ACDM, team managers and coaches to help raise the spirits of the athletes so that they don’t feel inferior to athletes from other states,” the minister told the senior officials.

Also present were the Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development and Head of the Sarawak Contingent, Dato Gerald Rentap Jabu, the Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Dr Ripin Lamat, Deputy Secretary to the Sarawak Government (Operations) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sukma XXI Sarawak 2024 Datu Hii Chang Kee, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Morshidi Fredrick, CEO of the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) Awang Putrayusrie Awang Redzuan and the ACDMs, team managers and coaches of the 37 sports to be contested in Sukma XXI.

At the briefing session, each sports association presented its medals target. Sarawak will be represented by a total of 802 athletes comprising 427 males and 375 females at Sukma XXI Sarawak.