Three Sabah teams set for Sibu Open Track and Field C’ships

SIBU: A total of 808 athletes from throughout the country will vie for RM20,130 worth of cash prizes on offer at the Sibu Open Track and Field Championship 2022 on Oct 8-9.

The event which had not been staged for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be held at the newly commissioned Azman Hashim Community Sports Community Centre in Sibu Jaya.

It is also the only sports meet to offer prize money for 45 individual events and six team events, including Men’s and Women Open, Boy’s and Girl’s U14 and U-11.

On top of that, record breakers will also bring home an additional RM50 for Men’s and Women’s Open and RM20 for Boy’s and Girl’s U-14 and U-112.

According to Sibu Amateur Athletics Association (SAAA) chairman Dr Gregory Hii Sui Cheng, the Sibu Open Track and Field is one of the most eagerly awaited events in their calendar.

“We are happy to attract such a big crowd for the coming edition and with so many athletes from throughout the country coming to vie for the titles,” he said at the press conference on Tuesday.

With him was SAAA secretary Ting Siew Nguong.

Hii said a total of 45 teams have signed up for the meet, including four from the peninsula, three from Sabah with Sarawak making up the rest of the bulk.

The teams from the peninsula are Kawan Athletic team Kuala Lumpur, Malacca Sports School, Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School Johor and Bukit Jalil Sports School while teams from Sabah are Alangkas Athletic Club, Keningau Team and SMK Pinawantai Kudat.

Hii said the number of participants had increased from a mere 300 athletes in 2010 to almost 1,000 in the 2019 edition, adding that was happy with the encouraging response.

“For that reason, we have come up with bigger prize money and hopefully to attract more participants, if possible from Singapore and Brunei in our next edition, to make the event ‘truly international’,” he added.

Meanwhile, Hii also announced that they managed to get two more sponsors to add to its existing eight.

They are Borneo United Sawmills, who is sponsoring the prize money in shot put and Fulsail Sdn Bhd in javelin.

Other sponsors are KTS Sdn Bhd (100m Open and 800m), Ta Ann Holdings Sdn Bhd (100m U-14 and U-11), McDonalds (80m, 100m and 110m hurdles), Hii King Leng Foundation (long jump, 3000m, 5000m and Super100m), Delta Leasing Sdn Bhd (400m), Smart Group of Companies (high jump), Mascuci-TN Sports (discus) and Sibu AAA (4x100m relay).