THE Penang government hopes that the several sports programmes organised under the LovePENANG campaign will reinvigorate the social life of the people in the state, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He said this during the closing ceremony of the LovePENANG Cup Basketball Championships at the Han Chiang High School indoor stadium tonight.
“The LovePENANG campaign aims to revitalise the social life of the people in the state after the Covid-19 pandemic had caused a global health crisis and impacted many lives.
“During the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, the people have gone through various phases of movement control order (MCO) and of course, it has limited the physical activities of the youth in particular.
“Therefore, in line with that approach, the Penang government through the Penang State Sports Council (PSSC) has collaborated with the Penang Basketball Association (PBA) and Seberang Perai Selatan Basketball Association (SPSBA) to organise the tournament as one of the programmes to maintain a balanced lifestyle of the community.
“In addition, this tournament is also to improve the performance of the men’s and women’s basketball and also unearth new talents.
“We hope the talents discovered will be able to represent the state or the country at the international level one day,” Chow said during his speech.
He said the LovePENANG Cup Basketball Championships was one of the programmes introduced under the LovePENANG campaign that was launched by the Penang government recently.
Besides basketball, Chow said the state government had organised events such as the LovePENANG Run, the LovePENANG Cup Football Championships, the LovePENANG Sepak Takraw Championships, and had also just inaugurated the LovePENANG e-Sports Challenge at 1st Avenue Mall yesterday.
“By organising these tournaments, I hope that they can have a very effective impact on the involvement of the public in the state to start sports activities and then make it a daily life culture,” he added.
Chow also thanked the PBA, the PSSC and the SPSBA for running the LovePENANG Cup Basketball Championships smoothly.
Also present were state Youth and Sports Committee chairman Soon Lip Chee, who is also the Bagan Jermal assemblyman, PBA chairman Datuk Ooi Khoon Yeong, PSSC director Harry Chai Heng Hua, SPSBA chairman Ching Swee Hong, Han Chiang High School board of directors chairman Datuk Seri Ooi Soo Hing and PBA secretary Tan Chee Wan.
Thirty-five teams took part in the four-day tournament.
Sunrise Youngsters outplayed MK Group 83-57 in the men’s final while Big Box 1, comprising mostly Penang Sukma players, edged Hong Lim 63-61 in the third and fourth placing match.
In the women’s category, Stallion defeated MK Group 57-53 to emerge as champions.
Chow presented the trophies to all the top four finishers in the men’s and women’s categories, and also the Seberang Perai zone top four men’s teams, namely MK Group, Hong Lim, RCB Jixing and RCB HWC, and the Island zone top four men’s teams – Sunrise Youngsters, Big Box 1, Bersatu Youngsters and Sri Nibong B.
Chow also presented the trophies to lanky Goh Yan Qing of Sunrise Youngsters and Christine Goh Khang Yuin of Stallion who were adjudged the men’s and women’s MVPs (Most Valuable Player) respectively.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix and video by Law Suun Ting