Johnny Chai (eighth right) hands over the state colours to the state taekwondo team.
KUCHING: The Sarawak Taekwon-Do Association (ITF) will be sending 43 students from various schools here to the ‘Kejohanan Taekwon-Do Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia’ from March 17 to 18 at Pasaraya Kipmart, Bachang in Melaka.
This is an annual event organised by the national governing body of International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) in Malaysia and is supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia.
More than 600 students from schools throughout Malaysia between the ages of eight and 18 are expected to take part.
Its objective is to expose the students on the techniques that they have learnt and to elevate their standards to a higher level.
Additionally, the students who participate in the championship are able to obtain high co-curriculum points under the uniformed body category.
Consequently, these points will enhance the students’ chances of obtaining scholarships as well as admission to higher learning institutions after they graduate from the secondary schools.
The outstanding exponents in the championship will be selected to represent the country at the 1st Asia ITF Taekwon-Do (Schools) Championship in Selangor from July 25 to 29.
Fourteen officials from Sarawak ITF will accompany the students to the championship.
Team manager Francis Ting said the students have been training very hard and are prepared for the championship.
They have to tread a balance between their school work and tight training schedules.
Besides, five senior members from ITF Sarawak namely Sim Heng Tak (5th Dan), Jeffrey Wee (5th Dan), Amy Bong (4th Dan), Lawrence Chai (3rd Dan) and Ahmad Saufi Khan (2nd Dan) will offer their services as umpires at the championship.
During the flag presentation, ITFM umpire director and ITF Sarawak chief instructor Johnny Chai wished the team success in bringing glory to the state.