Pesron gives thumps up to 2017 SukSar
KUCHING: The Sarawak government has moved in the right direction by integrating the able bodied and physically challenged sports into one event - the Sukan Sarawak or SukSar – from Dec 1417 this year.
In doing this, both the able bodied and physically challenged athletes can compete in what is regarded as a truly all- Sarawakian Games that was revived after a lapse of 27 years.
By involving the Orang Kurang Upaya ( OKU) athletes in this Games, the government has also brought about more awareness about them.
This is the view of Persatuan Sukan Dan Rekreasi Orang Kurang Upaya Negeri ( Pesron) Sarawak president Matthew Chin.
He said SukSar I Kuching had been successful in unearthing many young para talents with the potential to shine at national level competitions.
“Many of the athletes are still young and are aged below 18 and they have shown potential in winning medals at the national paralympiad meet,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Four spor t s - athle t ic s , swimming, powerlifting and archery - were competed in SukSar 2017 but only athletics and swimming were competed as medal events.
“It is good to include four events for a start but I hope more events which are competed at the Malaysian Paralympiad can be included in the next SukSar.
“The discovery of new talents in SukSar augers well for Sarawak because they can ensure that Sarawak wi l l cont inue to dominate in the next Malaysian Paralympiad,” Chin said.
For the record, Sarawak have won the Malaysian Paralympiad for 12 consecutive times and they are targeting to be overall champions for the 13th time in Perak next year.
Meanwhi le, Mini s t e r o f Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Fatimah Ali also praised the Sarawak Sports Corporat ion ( SSC) and the Sarawak State Sports Council ( MSNS) for organising SukSar with the strategy to unearth new talents to be roped into the state Sukma and Paralympiad squads.
“I would like to convey my thanks to MSNS and its director Dr Ong Kong Swee for working so hard to ensure that all athletes are given the opportunity to compete so that they can go to a higher level.
“This effort gets the strong support from the state government and we would also like to thank the parents who have made a lot of sacrifices and supported para athletes,” she said when met recently.