Sabah Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin.-filepic
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is eyeing 40 gold medals in next month’s 21st Sukma Games hosted by neighbouring state, Sarawak, said Datuk Ellron Angin.
The state Youth and Sports Minister said the Sabah Contigent’s 713 athletes would compete in 35 of the 37 sports this year, dropping the chess and kabaddi.
He said the decision to omit the state’s participation in chess was due to technical issues with the association's registration of participants.
"As for kabaddi, Sabah does not have an association or athlete development programme for this sport," he said.
Ellron said that since the hosting state is closer to Sabah, the state would be represented by 373 male and 340 female athletes who are accompanied by 235 sports officials, including team managers and coaches, 93 supporting officials, and a medical team.
Angin added that Sabah won the most medals at the 19th Sukma in Perak in 2018. That year, the state’s athletes brought home 33 gold medals, 27 silver medals, and 46 bronze medals.
