Athletes bring glory to state
A revolution is taking place that will make Johor a centre of sports excellence not only in the country, but in the region.
over the last few years, the state has shown strong progress in sports. this was evident during the 2017 Kuala lumpur SeA Games (Kl2017), where Malaysia bagged 145 gold, 92 silver and 86 bronze medals.
A total of 55 athletes from the state took part in Kl2017, with 18 of them delivering gold medals, 17 silver and seven bronze.
Johor ruler Sultan ibrahim ibni Almarhum Sultan iskandar, who is passionate about sports, particularly polo, has always been focused on Johorean athletes’ sporting accomplishments.
Among them is national high jumper nauraj Singh randhawa, who received attention from His Majesty after qualifying for the rio olympics in 2016.
Sultan ibrahim posted a message on his official Facebook page, congratulating the Johor Baru-born sportsman for breaking the national high jump record.
More recently, Sultan ibrahim met with Johor-born professional boxer Muhammad Farkhan Haron, who won the ABF Cruiserweight championship in the Philippines earlier this month.
this is yet another addition to his mantelpiece, along with the WBC Asian light Heavyweight Champion belt and the WBC Asian Cruiserweight Championship belt.
Muhammad Farkhan is the first Malaysian to achieve this feat, and his achievements have surpassed other boxers in this country.
the Sultan of Johor hockey tournament, which is the world’s first under-21 invitational tournament, has also grown from strength to strength since its inception in 2011.
Besides Malaysia, teams from countries such as Germany, Australia, Japan, Great Britain, Argentina, india, Pakistan and the united States have participated in the yearly tournament.
But the spark that lit the fire of sporting achievements should be attributed to tunku Mahkota Johor tunku ismail ibni Sultan ibrahim and his Johor Darul ta’zim (JDt) Football Club.
under his leadership, tunku ismail has changed the football scene in the state and made JDt – better known as the Southern tigers – a prominent force not only in the local scene, but in the region as well.
the club won four straight Malaysian Super league titles, a Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and three Charity Shield titles. in 2015, it became the first South-east Asian side to clinch the AFC Cup.
JDt has also forged working relationships with top european teams such as Borussia Dortmund from Germany and Spanish la liga side valencia to help nurture young talents for the Malaysian team.
the club is also in the midst of building a new stadium, dubbed the Sultan ibrahim larkin Stadium, in iskandar Puteri.
in two years, Johor will host the Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) and two projects have been announced by the state government to improve the sporting facilities here.
the development of Arena larkin and Stadium Sport City would make Johor a hub of sports fitness.
the projects, worth about rM439mil, are not merely expenditure by the state government, but an investment beneficial to Johor. All the facilities are expected to be ready before the Sukma Games in 2020.
Arena larkin, which will feature an indoor stadium and an aquatic centre, will be built on 41.6ha of land by Johor Corporation at a cost of rM350mil.
Arena larkin is inspired by international sporting hubs such as the Melbourne Sports Hub in Australia and the Queen elizabeth olympic Park in london.
the Stadium Sport City is being constructed by Kumpulan Prasarana rakyat Johor at an estimated cost of rM89mil and will, among others, host track and field events.
With all the developments taking place, Johor’s prowess in the sporting field is sure to grow.