So far, so good

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Good Outing: Lee (second from right) gestures at the press conference while his deputies (from left) Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Affandi Keli and Snowdan Lawan look on. — Photos by Chimon Upon

KUANTAN: The performance of Sarawak athletes thus far has been good, chef de mission Datuk Lee Kim Shin said yesterday.

He said out of the three events namely karate, taekwondo and cycling, Sarawak has won six gold, two silver and five bronze medals to be placed second in the medals standings.

“It is a good start for us especially in taekwondo and cycling. We were well prepared for taekwondo where we won four golds, two silvers and two bronzes and in cycling, we dominated in mountain bike cross country race yesterday (Saturday) by winning both the men’s and women’s golds,” Lee said after chairing a press conference at Sarawak Sukma XV Secretariat at The Zenith Hotel.

Lee, also the Assistant Minister of Sports and Assistant Minister of Communications, added that it was the first time that Sarawak had won gold medals in mountain bike cross country race.

“We have won gold in mountain bike downhill before but this time Addy Ammin Shahriman Othman and Rosnina Minggu delivered the golds for us in cross country,” he added.

On karate which contributed three bronzes, Lee said it was encouraging considering that the state karate exponents did not have any foreign coach.

“Further more, karate is competed on and off in Sukma and I feel that it should be a permanent event in Sukma,” said Lee.

He said the state team would be focusing on aquatics (diving and swimming), mountain bike cycling events yesterday in the quest for more golds.

On the 3-1 upset loss to Selangor by defending champions Sarawak in the men’s volleyball, Lee said it was too early to comment because there are a few more games to play.

Sarawak’s next matches will be against Johor, Kelantan, Kedah, Perak and Melaka.

Sarawak, which fielded 376 athletes in 22 out of 24 events, is aiming to capture 47 gold medals to finish among the top five teams in Sukma.