KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — The 2022 Agong’s Cup rugby championship scheduled to be held from October 22 to November 26 has been postponed to make way for the 15th General Election (GE15).
Malaysia Rugby (MR) competitions director Fahmy Jalil said the new dates for the championship would be finalised after the Election Commission (EC) announces the nomination and polling dates.
“The Agong’s Cup will still be held and we will also take into account the bad weather situation forecast for the end of this year. This is also after taking into consideration the technical issues and teams’ preparations,” he said when met at Wisma OCM here today.
Previously, 16 teams had confirmed participation in the 38th edition of the championship, which was supposed to resume this year after being postponed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Terengganu emerged champions in the 2019 edition after defeating Sabah 26 – 24 in a nail-biting final.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the dissolution of Parliament to pave the way for GE15, which must be held within 60 days of the dissolution.
Meanwhile, Fahmy said MR were ready to accept the gauntlet thrown down by the National Sports Council (NSC) for their men’s and women’s teams to finish in the top six of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2022 to enable them to compete in the Hangzhou Asian Games in China from September 23 to October 8, 2023.
The eight men’s teams competing in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series are Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and China while the eight women’s teams are Japan, Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Malaysia finished seventh in both the men’s and women’s series last year.
The first leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series will be held in Bangkok, Thailand on October 22 to October 23, followed by Incheon, South Korea (November 12 to November 13) and Dubai, UAE (November 26 to November 27).
“At the working committee meeting today, the NSC challenged us to finish in the top six in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series to play in the Asiad.
“We want to do well in the Asia Rugby Sevens Series and use it as a medium to qualify for Hangzhou,” Fahmy, who is also MR vice-president, said.
— Bernama
