Perak are targeting 28 gold medals and a third overall placing in the week-long 2024 Malaysia Para Games (Para SUKMA) to be held in Sarawak from Sunday (Sept 22). State Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Khairudin Abu Hanipah said they will be sending a 174-strong contingent comprising 93 para-athletes, 42 team managers and 38 officers. He added that they will compete in nine out of the 10 para-sports to be contested, namely boccia, archery, athletics, badminton, table tennis, lawn bowls, bowling, powerlifting and chess. He said the state government had also allocated RM1 million for the preparation and management of the Perak contingent, which is supervised by the State Sports Council (SSC). "The amount includes incentives for the gold medallists (RM5,000 each), silver medallists (RM3,000 each) and bronze medallists (RM1,000 each), which is similar to the amount given to the SUKMA athletes recently,' he said when contacted today. Meanwhile, Khairudin said the state governm ent has also announced a one-off additional incentive for the winners at this year's Para SUKMA. He said that gold medallists would receive RM300, silver medallists (RM200) and bronze medallists (RM100) for the individual events and RM150 (gold), RM100 (silver) and RM50 (bronze) each for team events. "In addition, the state government has also provided one-off pocket money of RM400 for everyone and RM800 each for team managers to motivate them during the Para SUKMA,' he said. In the 2022 Para SUKMA in Kuala Lumpur, Perak finished fifth with 25 golds, 15 silvers and 14 bronzes. Source: BERNAMA News Agency