KUCHING: The president of Sarawak Weightlifting Association, Gerald Rentap Jabu said the Sarawak Open Nat ional Weight l i f t ing Championship 2017 which is currently ongoing at the Multipurpose Hall, Youth and Sports Department Complex (JBS) Sarawak is the best platform for young athletes, especially the junior squad to improve their performances.
It is also seen as the best way to form a truly formidable team for the Sarawak contingent for the Malaysian Games (Sukma) in Perak in 2018. “Although the tournament involves an open age category, Sarawak as the host also features young athletes.
“I believe in this way we will be able to give them exposure as well as the opportunity for every athlete to improve their current performance,” Gerald said when met on Wednesday. He added that the tournament will also provide an opportunity for athletes representing their teams to improve their weaknesses. According to Gerald, the initiative in holding the tournament came as a result of Sarawak success in Sukma 2016.
He welcomed recommendations from Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah) who wanted to see the governing body organise bigger tournaments of international status.
“I’m confident and it is in our plans for the next two years,” Gerald said, adding that to hold the tournament after a lapse of 20 years, for Sarawak as the host it is a very significant achievement. A total of 150 participants are competing in the championship which involves various categories beginning Tuesday (Oct 24) and will end today.
Sarawak have listed 15 top athletes as compared to other states such as Sabah, Johor, Selangor, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, Kedah, Wilayah Persekutuan, TLDM and PDRM. The tournament was organised by the Sarawak Weightlifting Association in collaboration with the Malaysian Weightlifting Federation, the Sarawak State Sports Council (MSNS), the National Sports Council (MSN), the Sarawak Youth and Sports Ministry and the Sarawak State Government.
A total of 16 categories are being contested during the championship comprising eight men and eight women categories. Browse the best online HTML tools: editor, tags, cheat sheet, character codes, tag generators, website templates and more.
