Sukma still very much relevant, competitive games - Khairy

The Malaysia Games (Sukma) is still very much relevant and competitive games to produce high-performing back-up athletes for the national sports industry, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He said the success stories created by several athletes, to the extent of breaking national records, proved that they were capable of making it to the higher level.

"This proves that Sukma is still very much relevant to produce back-up athletes to represent the country one day.

"This is also a positive sign that Sukma is not just a sports meet for junior athletes to make their appearance, but also to showcase their best performance in national sports."

Khairy said this to reporters after witnessing the signing of the cooperation agreement between the Secretariat of the 29th SEA Games and 9th ASEAN Para Games (MASOC) and Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd at the ministry today.

Yesterday, archer Nur Aqila Yusof of Terengganu set a new national record in the women's individual 70m recurve event.

The 18-year-old archer shot 331 points to be the national record of 328 points set by Mon Redee Sut Xi at the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam.

National swimmer Lim Ching Hwang also renewed his own national record in the men's 200m individual medley.

The Federal Territories swimmer clocked 2 minutes 04.77 seconds to eras his own mark of 2:04.89s that he set in the United States.

In another development, Khairy said he would meet with national professional boxer Muhamad Farkhan Haron to discuss the future career plans for the athlete.

"I've followed his development over the past several years and his involvement in professional boxing is very much welcomed.

"We never had a boxer who could really reach the highest performance in professional boxing arena. I congratulate him and hope to see him to discuss future planning," he said.

Muhamad Farkhan, 28, carved his name as the first Malaysian boxer ever to win the WBC Asia Boxing Championship's Cruiserweight title last Saturday.

The 2009 SEA Games gold medalist won the title at the Far East Square, Singapore, after defeating Indonesian boxer Elly Pangaribuan by technical knockout (TKO).