PENANG, February 2016 – Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) bagged 4 gold, 7 silver and 15 bronze medals in the Higher Education Institution Sports Championship (SUKIPT) 2016 which was held at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) from January 25 to February 5, 2016.

With the medal tally, USM emerged 12^th in overall placing among 69 contingents that took part in this biennial event which gathered institutions of higher learning (IPT) from Malaysia and also several universities from the Southeast Asia region.

The most encouraging performance came from the Archery and Karate-do events with each sport contributing two gold medals to USM.

The most outstanding performance from the USM athlete was from the Archery event where national archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh won 2 gold medals for USM.

The overall medal collection of USM at SUKIPT 2016 was 4 Gold medals from Archery (2) and Karate-do (2), 7 Silver medals from Track and Field (1), Swimming (2), Archery (2), and Table Tennis (2), 15 Bronze medals from Badminton (1), Swimming (5), Karate-do (2), Taekwondo (3), Fencing (1), Judo (1), and Table Tennis (2).

A total of 25 sports were contested in the 12-day championship, which gathered more than 8,000 athletes and officers from 117 IPT in Malaysia and neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore and Laos.

SUKIPT is a biennial sports event initiated in 2012 by the Ministry of Higher Education and Institutes of Higher Education Sports Council (MASUM, MSP, MASKOM and MASISWA). The first SUKIPT edition was hosted by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2012, followed by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in 2014.

SUKIPT is a good platform to unearth and showcase the sports talents among undergraduates/postgraduates as well as to further develop the sports at the IPT, national and international level in an integrated manner.

The closing ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, YB Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching.

Translation: Tan Ewe Hoe

Text: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah