(From left) Brandon Chian, Geraldine Chung, Voon Xue Zhi, Cheryl Chew and Voon Xue Jia pose during a recent training session.
KUCHING: Five of the judokas still eligible for the 20th Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) in Johor in 2020 will be more prepared for the challenge.
Sarawak Judo Association president Francis Chan said they have already started preparing the athletes which include physical and mental conditioning as well as giving them more competition exposure.
The five athletes are Sukma XIX bronze medalist 16-year old Voon Xue Zhi and her 19-year old sister Voon Xue Jia, 18-year old Brandon Chian and 14-year olds Geraldine Chung and Cheryl Chew.
“Despite only winning a bronze from the recent Perak Sukma, they are still in very high spirit and looking forward to competing in the next Sukma.
“They were overcome by the the size of the dojo at the (recent Sukma) competition area which made them nervous.
“Also they have experience sparring with different partners, it is quite different when facing the opponents in the competition,” noted Chan.
“I have talked to them and they have promised to work very hard and will improve on their physical condition and skills.
“Also, some of them are still very young and it will take time for them to build up their muscles,” he added.
Chan said there was a vital need to increase the pool of athletes by setting up more training centres throughout the state.
“At the moment, the judokas are still from Kuching (state elite training centre and Chung Hua Middle School No. 1) and we are hoping to get more talents from other towns especially from the rural area.
“We are planning to set up a dojo in Sibu hopefully by this year. We are still waiting for the arrival of the tatami (judo mats) which are donated by a dojo in Hiroshima.”
Head coach Anderson Venus, who hails from Kanowit and was a gold medalist in the 2002 Sukma, will be sent to Sibu to guide the athletes some of whom may come from Kapit or Kanowit.
“Anderson has suggested we can get good talents from Kapit and Kanowit. When we were overall champions in 2002, our team were mostly from rural areas and naturally they are very tough,” said Chan.
“With better preparation and two years from now we are ready to give our competition a better fight in Sukma and other national or international competitions,” he said.