Govt pledges support for international sports events

January 24, 2019

Karim with (from left) Kee, Teng, Mazurenko, Yakovlev, Azil (seventh right, standing) local pullers and officials during the courtesy call.

KUCHING: The Premier 101 Armwrestling Club are assured of assistance from the Sarawak government in organising the 4th Premier 101 International Charity Armwrestling Championship together with the Top 8 Vendetta Zloty Tur World Championship in Kuching from April 5 to 6.

Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said his ministry is always ready to help sports bodies to organise international events in the state.

He noted that armwrestling is fast gaining popularity in Malaysia especially in Sarawak.

Visit Sarawak Campaign

“This is due to the committed people who have introduced the sport to the state and they are very, very committed in organising competitions and going to the schools just to popularise the sport,” he said during a courtesy call on him by Premier 101 Armwrestling Club president Stephen Kee and the organising committee at his office at Bangunan Baitul Makmur in Petra Jaya yesterday.

Kee and his group were accompanied by world renowned armwrestling promoter Igor Mazurenko, who is Polish Armwrestling Federation president and founder of Mazurenko armwrestling equipment, and Professional Armwrestling League communications and marketing manager Kirill Yakovlev.

Karim commended the association for organising and popularising the competition by bringing in pullers from all over the world to compete here.

“In some way, it will help to bring up the sport and also help promote sport tourism in the state,” added the Asajaya assemblyman.

Meanwhile, organising chairman Kee said they are honoured to be offered by Unified Rating Of Professional Armwrestling organiser Mazurenko who is also Professional Armwrestling League president to host the Top 8 Vendetta and create history by becoming the first organiser of such an event in Asia.

According to Kee, the 2-in-1 event will now be staged either at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching or at a local hotel.

He is now looking at 3,000 amateur and professional pullers, family members, friends, fans and officials who will come to Kuching for the event.

“The minister (Karim) has asked us to come up with a new working paper for the organising of the event so that he can get it approved by the State Cabinet,” added Kee who is also deputy president of Malaysia Armsport Federation (MyArms).

Also present were MyArms president Azil Fadli and Premier 101 Armwrestling Club advisor Dato Sri Teng Chi Lik. -TheBorneoPost