KEDAH CYCLING SQUAD EYE THREE GOLDS AT SUKMA 2024

JITRA, July 25 (Bernama) -- The Kedah cycling camp is optimistic about winning three gold medals from 13 events they will participate in at the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) 2024 in Sarawak, starting on Aug 14.

Kedah SUKMA cycling head coach Noor Alfizar Othman said that overall, the cycling squad from the Rice Bowl State targets nine medals: three gold, three silver and three bronze.

"Fifteen events will be contested, but the Kedah cycling camp will only participate in 13 events. The two events we are skipping are women's BMX and men's Downhill. The three golds targeted are in the women's team or individual road race, women's MTB and MTB relay events.

"The three-gold target is shouldered by Phi Kun Pan, who won a gold medal at the 2023 Asian Road Cycling Championships in Thailand and a bronze medal at the 2024 Asian Mountain Bike Championships (MTB) in Putrajaya for the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) event," she told Bernama today.

She said judging by the performance and spirit shown by her 18 athletes, consisting of nine men and nine women, the Kedah cycling team has the potential to surpass the gold medal target.

"For this SUKMA, six athletes are new faces, while the rest have competed in previous SUKMAs … so, we hope that in the first race on Aug 14, the other athletes can also contribute medals for the Kedah cycling camp.

"So far, the training sessions have been going smoothly, and we just returned from Sarawak after a month-long camp there. Training is conducted every day in two sessions: in the morning from 8.30 to 12.30 pm and in the afternoon from 5.30 to 6.45," she said.

Noor Alfizar said that besides training in Jitra, she has taken her athletes to train outside Kedah, including in Terengganu, Putrajaya, Melaka and Sarawak, in preparation for SUKMA.

"We will depart for Sarawak on July 31 and have about two weeks left there, so we will use the remaining time to master the routes to be used and conduct early monitoring.

"The athletes' health is also in top condition, with no injuries reported so far … we hope this continues until SUKMA ends so that Kedah's achievements in SUKMA 2022 can be repeated," she said.

Meanwhile, Phi Kun, 21, who has been with the Kedah cycling team since the age of 14, said the responsibility she has to shoulder at SUKMA 2024 is significant as the three-gold target depends on her.

"At SUKMA 2022, I contributed one gold medal in the MTB category, but this time my responsibility is heavier. It feels burdensome, but when people put their trust in me, I have to work hard and prepare thoroughly to win gold for Kedah," she said.

-- BERNAMA