SUKMA: PENANG TARGET TWO JUDO GOLD, PIN HOPES ON AMIR DANIEL

By Siti Azila Alias

GEORGE TOWN, July 18 (Bernama) -- The Penang judo team is putting its hopes on national judo exponent Amir Daniel Abdul Majeed to deliver gold medals for the state's contingent at the 21st Malaysian Games (SUKMA) which will take place in Sarawak from August 17 to 21.

Sarawak SUKMA will be the third appearance for Amir Daniel, 20, in the bi-annual event and he will be  competing in the under 81 kilogramme (kg) category.

The Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) student said he is confident of being able to maintain his performance by defending the gold he won in the last edition in the Klang Valley and that the remaining one month will be used as best as possible to further improve his training.

"Preparation so far has gone smoothly and I am grateful because there are not many classes now, I can fully focus on training a day in two to three sessions with each session taking two hours.

"I have another month to improve what is lacking but for now I can say that I am fully ready and confident that I can win gold for the team," he said when met by Bernama while undergoing training at Tanjong Tokong.

The Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medalist said the success of winning gold in several participations abroad including the most recent ASEAN University Games (AUG) in Surabaya Indonesia last month also helped in his preparations ahead of SUKMA as well as fueling his spirit to continue to show excellent performances.

Nevertheless, Amir Daniel said he would still be careful with the opponents and expect fierce competition from Johor athletes as they had often met each other before.

Meanwhile, another athlete Ng Yi Heng is also determined to improve his achievement of winning a silver medal in the last edition by aiming for gold in Sarawak this time.

"I really hope to be able to present gold to the Penang judo team, but I can't be too confident because this sport has risks.

"Regardless, I will do my best in addition to adequate preparation by undergoing intensive training every day besides gaining exposure through participating in tournaments abroad," he said.

In the meantime, Penang judo coach Md Nashriq Md Nasir said his team is ready for challenges at Sarawak SUKMA and is confident of being able to present two gold medals for Penang as targeted.

He admitted that he was very satisfied with the commitment shown by every athlete so far and hoped that all of them maintain discipline in whatever tournament they participate in.

He said, a total of 13 male and female athletes would be sent to participate in the 12 categories. 

"We expect a gold from Amir Daniel and another from the men's Ju No Kata category, but the others (if they win gold) are a bonus for the team. Like the last edition, we won five golds, but for SUKMA this time, many are missing because they are over the 21 years age limit.

"The athletes we brought are the best and we hope they return with medals. Although our target is two golds, the others will fight for gold medals as well," he said.

At the 20th edition of SUKMA, the Penang judo team won five gold, three silver and two bronze.

-- BERNAMA