Sibu coach hopeful taekwondo reinstated for 2018 Sukma
SIBU: Rejang Taekwondo Club chief coach Thomas Tang has expressed optimism that taekwondo will still be included in next year’s Sukma to be held in Perak.
“As far as I know, the national taekwondo body is still negotiating with the relevant authorities to reinstate the sport and I am confident that the outcome will be very optimistic,” he said yesterday.
Last week, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that taekwondo, weightlifting and sepak takraw were dropped as core sports due to poor performance or not showing improvement.
The t h r e e s p or t s we r e subsequently taken out of the Sukma list of sports.
Asking the local taekwondo fraternity not to panic, he added, “all is not lost as we’re waiting for the final outcome of our appeal.
“It’s still nine months to go to the Perak Sukma and anything can happen within these nine months.”
Noting that Perak is weak in the sport he said, “That’s why they proposed to have taekwondo dropped.”
According to Tang, taekwondo had never been excluded in any Sukma and the decision to drop the sport for the Perak Sukma certainly came as a huge disappointment as Sarawak won eight gold medals in the sport at the 2016 Sukma.
Meanwhile, the Sibu coach also expressed disappointment that taekwondo was not included in last week’s Sarawak Games (Suksar) held in Kuching.
“I do not know why the sport is excluded from Suksar as all my queries have not been answered,” he lamented.