Sarawak Games III in Sibu set to serve as crucial talent scouting platform for Sukma

Abdul Karim delivering his winding up speech for the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development in DUN Sitting on Nov 28, 2023. Photo credit: Ukas

By Karen Bong

KUCHING, Nov 28: Sarawak Games (Suksar) III, which will be held in Sibu from Jan 15 to 18, 2024 with 1,800 athletes competing is poised to become a pivotal talent scouting platform geared towards the Malaysia Games (Sukma), offering early exposure for potential medalists.

A total of 13 selected sports will be competed including weightlifting, cycling, basketball, volleyball, futsal, hockey, judo, karate, pencak silat, sepak takraw, boxing, taekwondo and wushu.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah emphasised that it is also aimed at exploring sports associations for organising competitions, as well as for the preparation of technical officers for certain sports.

“Athletes from four zones will compete in this event, which comprises of Northern Zone (Limbang, Miri, Bintulu), Central Zone (Mukah, Sibu, Kapit), Western Zone (Sarikei, Betong, Sri Aman), and Southern Zone (Kuching, Samarahan, Serian) with 1,800 athletes,” he said in his winding up speech for the Ministry at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) Sitting today.

Abdul Karim reiterated Sarawak’s commitment to being a sports powerhouse with ongoing efforts of the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) in implementing sports development programmes.

“Among the initiatives that have been carried out in 2023 is the Sports On Wheels event, to introduce sports and to scout for potential talents for Sarawak, to promote the sport science services as well as to convey the innovative ideas of sports talent identification to public through the matching of physical intelligence with game activities,” he added. — DayakDaily