Datuk Mohamad Najib Samuri, Head of the Johor Contingent to the XX Malaysia Games MSN 2022, is proud of Johor’s achievements of reaping a total of 29 gold medals after the bi-annual games officially opened on Saturday, the 17th of September 2022.
He said the excellent start exhibited by the Johor contingent now puts them on the best track to emerge as champions.
However, he refused to brag but instead wanted Johor to meet the target of 40 gold medals first before winning 55 gold medals as set by the Menteri Besar, Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
“The initial target set was 40 gold, but the MB thinks that this contingent is fully prepared and capable of achieving up to 55 gold medals at this Games,” he said in Putrajaya during a dinner with media practitioners.
Athletics became the biggest contributor of gold so far with 9 gold medals won during the four days of the event.
It was followed by Wushu with 6 gold medals, Cycling and Canoeing 5 gold each, Shooting with 2 gold medals, and Karate and Archery with 1 gold each so far.
“The opportunity to emerge as champion is still open but I am optimistic with the momentum shown by the athletes. Some of them were not targeted to win gold but contributed and it is a positive sign for Johor to achieve the target.
“We will focus on sports such as canoeing, cycling and shooting to present the glitter of the gold medal as well as some other events that have the potential to create surprises,” he added.
As of 20th September 2022, Johor is leading the medal collection chart with 37 gold medals, 26 silver and 17 bronze medals and has a good chance to emerge as the overall champion for the first time in the history of SUKMA.
