TAIPING – The Youth and Sports Ministry has approved an allocation of RM846,000 for six Muay Thai tournaments under the Sports Matching Grant (GPS) initiative this year.
Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said the Malaysian International Muay Tournament (Mimac), which is taking place at Dataran Warisan here, from yesterday to tomorrow, also received a GPS of RM200,000 from the ministry.
“A special allocation of RM20,000 will also be given to Persatuan Tomoi Negeri Perak.
“It is hoped that the club will work hard to ensure that young people have a sports platform like this,” she said when opening the 2024 Mimac tournament here, last night.
The tournament organised by the association, which is being held for the first time, involves 12 countries including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Iran, Laos and Afghanistan.
Hannah said the tournament not only reflected the high fighting spirit in the sport of Muay Thai but also fostered unity and friendship at the international level.
“I would like to express my congratulations and say well done to Persatuan Tomoi Perak tournament for their hard work in organising Mimac,” she said.
Meanwhile, Persatuan Tomoi Negeri Perak president Mohd Ezry Azamin said the allocation will be used to help the sports club and association throughout Perak, which has around 1,000 members so far.
Asked about the first day’s matches, he said the performance of the Malaysian team was encouraging as they managed to win three medals and had reached 70% of the target to get six belts.
The Mimac tournament features three categories namely super kid (9-11 years), youth (12-16 years) and open 16 to 21 years old for the professional level with 12 belts up for grabs. – June 1, 2024