SEREMBAN: A total of 1,528 athletes, including 799 team officials from across the country, are set to compete at the Para SUKMA XXI Sarawak 2024 games scheduled to take place from September 20 to 28.
According to Sarawak Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah, this edition will feature 10 sports with 334 events.
The sports include para athletics, para swimming, para badminton, para table tennis, para tenpin bowling, para boccia, para lawn bowls, para powerlifting, para archery, and para chess.
"Thirteen states have confirmed their participation in this edition of Para SUKMA, including the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.
"All sports will be held in Kuching to minimize the movement of these Para athletes," she said during a media session while the SUKMA and Para SUKMA XXI Sarawak 2024 delegation visited the Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Dato’ Seri Utama Aminuddin Harun at the Operations Room, State Building, Seremban on Thursday.
Also present were Sarawak Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Dr. Ripin Lamat, Deputy Minister Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datuk Mohammad Razi Sitam, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datu Felicia Tan, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, Morshidi Fredrick, Chief Executive Officer of Sarawak Sports Corporation cum Director of Sarawak State Sports Council Awang Putrayusrie Awang Redzuan, and other Sarawak delegates.
In addition, she mentioned that the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPM) had organised a special course for para-athletes' classifiers from April 19 to 24 in Kuala Lumpur.
"This is in preparation for officials who will become classifiers in their respective states, ensuring that everyone agrees on the guidelines.
"We ask for classifications to be done in their respective states. With the course provided, we hope our classifiers have the skills to make accurate classifications," she said.-UKASnews
