Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah pencak silat squad has set a five-gold target for the 22nd Malaysia Games (Sukma) Selangor 2026, scheduled to take place from August 15 until August 24.
Sabah Seni Silat Association (Pesaka) president Datuk Alijus Sipil said after sending the squad off at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Wednesday, that the goal is based on the extensive preparations that the athletes have been undertaken, including numerous friendly matches that showed promising results.
“The preparations we have made are quite thorough and several series of friendly matches have been held in Perlis and Indonesia.
“As far as the friendly matches are concerned, the results are quite good and God willing, we are targeting at least five gold medals,” he said He expressed confidence in the squad’s ability to achieve the target, stressing that any gold medals beyond five would be considered a bonus.
“At the previous Sukma in Sarawak, we managed to secure four gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
“This time, we hope to not only match but exceed the last record, and contribute significantly to Sabah’s overall target of 40 gold medals in the Games,” he said.
He added that a total of 29 athletes will compete in 23 events during the games guided by six officials including the team manager.
Meanwhile, Sabah is looking to bounce back from a disappointing start in the Sukma football competition as they prepare to face their arch-rivals Sarawak in a crucial Group A match set to take place today (Thursday) at the UKM Stadium in Bangi.
Head coach Faisal Ahmad said on Wednesday that Sabah must win to avoid early elimination after their 0-1 loss to Terengganu on Tuesday in their three-team group.
“We must bounce back from the opening-game defeat. We lost to Terengganu because of an early mistake, but we showed improvement after that.
“We were the better side in the second half and despite fielding mostly President Cup (Under-20) players, we showed that we can compete against a team strengthened by seven Under-21 players.
“That gave us the motivation to try and get the desired result against Sarawak. I’m confident the players will give their best,” he said.
He also hoped the team will learn from their 1-2 defeat to Sarawak the President Cup League in Kuching this season.
“We were two goals down as a result of over confidence, but after pulling one back, we took control of the game in the second half, and I hope the players have learnt from their mistakes.”Meanwhile, the State women’s football team will be taking on defending champions Selangor in the Group A opening match at Selayang Stadium tonight.
This rematch of the 2024 final in Kuching will revive a painful memory for Sabah, who suffered a stunning 1-3 defeat to Selangor and missed out on a historic gold medal.
