Cambodian students who will join competitions in Thailand on July 19. SUPPLIED
Officials from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports encouraged the student athletes who will travel to the 20th ASEAN University Games 2022 in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, to respect the rules, be united and focus on winning gold.
The ministry is sending 48 athletes to compete in five sports at the games, which are scheduled to run from July 26 to August 6. This is a decrease from the team that attended the 19th games, which were held in Myanmar in 2018.
Ministry secretary of state Sar Sokha said the athletes of the sports, including pentathlon, taekwondo, karate, petanque and fencing, were carefully selected for the games. He urged them to focus on competing for a place on the podium and not to think of it as merely valuable experience.
“Although we have reduced the number of athletes from 77 to 48, we have selected the very best competitors we have. We are strong in the five sports we will participate in, and have a good chance of medaling in all of them. Please do not think that we just are attending just for the experience,” he addressed the sporting delegates at a July 19 meeting.
We must set aside phrases like ‘gaining experience’ and ‘fulfilling our duty’ and should instead focus on obtaining results. If we set our aspirations high, we have a better chance of attaining our goals,” he added.
Ouk Sithicheat, head of the ministry’s Directorate General of Sports, told the athletes to bear in mind that they were representing the image of the Kingdom and should behave accordingly.
“You must remember that all of you, no matter where in Cambodia you hail from, have had the honour of being selected. Therefore, I expect all of you to be disciplined, united and conduct yourselves with the highest standards of morality. Work hard, play fair, and come home with medals for the nation,” he said.
“The Cambodian Student Sports Federation, as well as the education ministry, have confidence in you. Please pay attention to the officials, respect the rules and conduct yourselves ethically. Do not do anything that could detract from the image of Cambodia,” he added.
Prum Bunyi, chief of mission of the team, said six male and six female petanque competitors and their trainers will attend, along with three male and three female taekwondo athletes and their coaches. Two male and one female athletics entrants will be heading to Thailand, as will three male and one female karate exponents, along with three women fencers. Together, the team will compete in 45 disciplines.
Sokha, who is also president of the student sports federation, added: “If we do not follow the rules, the money invested by the education ministry will be wasted. I believe that the athletes who are present here are the future. They will lead their chosen sport on the world stage and make the Cambodian flag well known around the world.”
He also told the coaches, referees and judges that will accompany the delegation to pay close attention to proceedings at the games.
“We have referees participating, so I urge them to study how events are organised. We may be able to use this knowledge when we host the 2023 SEA Games,” he said.
“This could be very important information. I urge you to watch closely, and share what you have learned upon your return,” he added.
At the 2018 games in Myanmar, Cambodia sent 77 athletes who competed in six sports. The Cambodian team won five gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals, placing them eighth out of 11 countries, ahead of East Timor, the Philippines and Brunei.
This time, Sokha wanted the student-athlete team to compete for a better ranking.
“Can we set the goal of fighting for sixth? If you can do better than this, it would be fantastic of course. If you are not in the top six, I expect you to at least gain seventh and improve on the last team’s performance,” he said.
