KBS May Provide Additional Funds To Help Alpine Ski Racer Aruwin - Hannah

SUBANG JAYA, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) will consider providing additional funds to alpine ski racer Aruwin Salehhuddin following her fourth placing in slalom at the 9th Asian Winter Games (AWG) in Harbin, China.

Its Minister, Hannah Yeoh said this would, however, be subject to the National Sports Council's (NSC) special budget provided by the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

"The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has asked the NSC to consider giving additional funds because she (Aruwin) finished fourth and perhaps with more support, she could get on the podium

"The NSC is considering the matter because our budget is not bottomless as it is determined annually by the MoF. So, we must study and plan properly because last year, our special budget's priority was the payment of EPF (contributions), all athletes,” she said.

She said this at a media conference after officiating the National Amateur Golf Series at the Saujana Golf Club here today.

The OCM had previously said that it was prepared to assist Aruwin get funds to boost her bid to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics (in Milan and Cortina, Italy) and the 2029 AWG (in Saudi Arabia).

Meanwhile, OCM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria hailed Aruwin's achievement in Harbin, saying it proved that Malaysia has huge potential in the sport.

On Saturday (Feb 8), Aruwin came close to finishing third in slalom at the Harbin AWG when she clocked one minute and 36.74 seconds (s) - just 1.82s behind eventual bronze medallist Eren Watanabe of Japan (1:34.96s).

Japan's Chisaki Maeda (1:33.50s) took gold while South Korea's Gim Sohui (1:34.06s) settled for silver.

-- BERNAMA