KANGAR – Two years of hardwork paid off for Wilayah Persekutuan the newly crowned overall champions at the 17th edition of the Malaysia Games (Sukma).
However, Wilayah are not going to rest on their laurels but instead have already started their preparations for the next Sukma which will be held in Sarawak in 2016.
“It is nice to win the overall title after 28 years…it’s a long time. We will celebrate our success with a grand do in Kuala Lumpur and we will fix the date soon,” Wilayah Chef de Mission Datuk Haji Mohd Amin Noordin Abdul Aziz told a press conference.
“We had targeted between 40-45 gold medals and a top three finish overall in Perlis but we won 55 to take the overall title. It is big surprise but we reaped dividends for all the hardwork.
“Wilayah had prepared well for the Perlis Sukma. But we it did not cross our minds to win the overall title especially when you have strong teams like Terengganu, Selangor and Sarawak.
“We will take off from our success in Perlis and start preparing for the next Sukma in Sarawak in 2016. In fact our preparations have already started.
“Sarawak, Terengganu and Selangor will be the main threat in 2016. However, the bulk of our athletes are still eligible for the next Sukma and this gives us confidence.”
Mohd Amin praised first time host Perlis for a “good job done” despite some shortcomings. “Perlis did a highly successful job,” he said.
Wilayah athletes will receive RM5,000 for a gold medal as incentive. Record breakers will get an additional RM1,000.
To ease the contingent’s transport woes in Perlis, Wilayah brought 60 vehicles from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
For the record Wilayah won 55 gold, 38 silver and 49 bronze medals while Terengganu finished runners-up with a 51-55-31 tally while Sarawak were third with 48-32-35.
