A total of 713 athletes, comprising 373 men and 340 women, will carry Sabah's challenge at the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak next month. Sabah Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin said that Sabah will participate in 35 out of the 37 sports events at SUKMA 2024, which will be held from Aug 17 to 24. He said that Sabah will not compete in chess due to technical issues with athlete registration and in kabaddi due to the lack of a strong athlete development programme in the sport in the state. 'Sabah is targeting 40 gold medals. As the chef de mission, I urge all officials and athletes to show the highest level of discipline and patriotic spirit in upholding the good name of our beloved Land Below the Wind. 'Good luck to our athletes, and may you bring home success,' he said in a statement today. On June 30, Bernama reported Ellron as saying he was confident the target of 40 gold medals could be achieved based on the current performance of the state's athletes. At that time, about 1,000 ath letes were in training before the final selection of the 713 athletes now set to compete. Sabah's best record was at the 19th SUKMA in Perak in 2018, where the state won 33 gold, 27 silver, and 46 bronze medals. The target of 40 gold medals aims to surpass that record. Ellron added that of the 713 athletes competing, 390 athletes, or nearly 55 percent, were born out of the most recent Sabah Games (SAGA) held last year in Kota Kinabalu. This percentage, he said, demonstrates the effectiveness of grassroots sports development programmes in Sabah, which are expected to produce more national athletes from the state in the future. Source: BERNAMA News Agency
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