Sarawak shooters aim for elusive gold in 2026 Sukma

KUCHING (March 24): Sarawak’s shooting squad is already in an intensive phase of training in preparation for this year’s Malaysia Games (Sukma) in August.

Some of the shooters will also be competing in a tournament at the National Shooting Range in mid April.

State Sukma shooting coach Ahmad Anai said the team’s preparations are progressing well as athletes undergo structured training and ongoing evaluation.

“Preparations are going smoothly. We are now in an intensive training phase focusing on performance consistency, technical aspects as well as mental strength,” he revealed when contacted on Monday.

“At the moment, the list of athletes is still in the long list stage. We are still assessing and evaluating before deciding on the short list,” he added.

As part of their build-up, some in the squad are scheduled to compete in the Tun Hanif Trophy in Subang from April 14 to 19.

The tournament will be limited to the 10m events due to ongoing upgrading works at the National Shooting Range there.

At the previous Sukma XXI Sarawak 2024, the Sarawak shooters delivered a commendable performance at the Sarawak Shooting Range, finishing with four silver and six bronze medals.

The silver medals were collected by Leticia Chai Jia Yi in the women’s 25m pistol individual event and teams in the men’s 10m air rifle and women’s 10m air pistol categories.

The team also bagged bronze medals across mixed and team events facing strong competition from traditional powerhouses such as Pahang and Negeri Sembilan.

Looking ahead, the shooting events at Sukma XXII will be held at the National Shooting Range in Subang, which is currently undergoing a major upgrade to modernise its facilities ahead of the Games scheduled from Aug 15 to 24.

Sarawak will be aiming to build on their previous showing and convert their consistency into gold medals when they compete in Selangor.