SIBU: The sports fraternity here have welcomed the news that the badminton competition will be held in Sibu when Sarawak host the 2016 Sukma.
Sibu Badminton Association (BA) treasurer Yong King Sung has described it as an honour.
“The news is a bit surprising but rest assured that members of the badminton fraternity here will welcome the players with open arms and render their full support to the organising committee for picking Sibu to host one of the biggest events of Sukma,” he said.
thesundaypost (Feb 1) reported the Sarawak Badminton Association (SBA) secretary Abdul Hadi Abdul Kadir as saying that the state government had decided to hold the badminton competition in Sibu for next year’s Sukma.
He said Sibu would have a new stadium which can accomodate 7,000 people, which is bigger than the 5,000-seat capacity of the Sarawak Indoor Stadium in Kuching.
But many in Sibu were also taken by surprise with the announcement.
Only last month, State Sports Council acting director Lucas Kallang Leang mentioned that only volleyball and beach volleyball would be staged in Sibu in 2016.
“Moreover, I personally also did not see why Sibu could be picked to host the event when there is no proper venue to stage the event,” Yong added.
Nevertheless, he said he would rally the Sibu BA and local badminton supporters to give their full support.
In fact, Sibu did host the badminton event at the Catholic High School here when Sarawak last organised Sukma.
Meanwhile, prominent Sibu sports leader Dr Gregory Hii has also come out in support.
“The accommodation and the food here are cheap and it is certainly a good idea to let Sibu host the badminton game,” he said.
In fact, he had another proposal.
Could the state government also let the Sibu Division Amateur Athletics Association (SDAAA) host the Sukma athletics competition?
With badminton, some have expressed uncertainty whether the new stadium at the Old Airport could be completed in time for Sukma 2016.
But no problem with Sibu hosting athletics in 2016.
“We can safely say that we have all the facilities and the logistics to handle the athletics event,” Hii, who is also SDAAA president, assured.