Covid vaccine a huge relief as taekwondo exponents eager for return

SIBU: Sarawak taekwondo exponents are eagerly looking forward to compete in international tournaments after most of them have received their Covid-19 vaccination here in the past few days.

Sarawak Taekwondo Association (PTNS) vice president Datuk Seri Lau Kueng Chai expressed gratitude to Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah for giving the priority to national and Malaysian Games (Sukma) athletes, officials and coaches to be vaccinated.

“Early vaccination will provide them the confidence and assurance to train with less fear of getting infected and this will be a big boost to their preparation for any future tournaments once the Movement Control order (MCO) is relaxed,’ he told reporters after meeting with some of the exponents at Sibu Indoor Stadium yesterday.

Among the tournaments on the radar included the G1 and G2 International Taekwondo Championship scheduled to be held in South Korea from

September to November.

Lau said he had received calls from Asian Taekwondo Federation (ATF) chairman Lee Kyu Seok asking for

Sarawak participation in the two tournaments.

“I could not promise him whether or not we are going to send our exponents for the championship as we have to get the greenlight from PTNS, Taekwondo Malaysia (TM) and also National Security Council (NSC).

“Everything will have to depend on the outcome of the Covid-19 situation.”

He admitted the current Covid-19 situation was still not at all rosy with the number of cases in the country continued to rage on.

On Friday, a total of 9,180 cases were reported, though in Sarawak, the situation had improved for the better.

However, with the vaccination rate hitting within target, Lau was confident that the country should achieve a certain degree of herd immunity by September.

“The situation may be better by then and hopefully, we shall be able to go and participate in the international tournaments.”

Lau said they have many potential exponents who have the calibre to bring home medals from the championship.

“We do not want to be optimistic but having received their jabs early will give these exponents ample time to train to regain their fitness and mental strength.

“I am confident that they will go all out once they have the opportunity to showcase their skills in the international arena,” he added.

Lau said it had been a big challenge to the people brought by the Covid-19 pandemic which not only halt all sporting activities in the past months but also caused serious economic repercussion and loss of lives.

He said the situation in Sarawak is looking better with the recent announcement by state Health director Datuk Dr Mohamed Sapian Mohamed of a break in the Covid-19 dark cloud when the weekly average cases had dropped to 340 this week from 596 the previous week.

“Still, we need to be cautious and ensure that compliance to all the standard operating procedures (SOPs) is strictly complied to.”