Venues

On 29 May 2016, the federal government allocated RM152 million to the Perak state government for organising the Games. This included RM 20 million that was spent on renovation and repair works for some old sporting facilities such as Perak Stadium, Velodrome Rakyat and Stadium Indera Mulia, and the rebuilding of Ipoh City Council Swimming Complex. The government also states that all 12 districts of Perak will host at least one sporting event.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Volunteers

The organisers estimated that around 3000 volunteers are needed to successfully host the games.^[13]

Sponsors

Baton relay

A relay of baton (which resembles a torch) was held statewide, began and ended at the host city on 2 and 11 September respectively.^[14]

Motto

The official motto of the games is "Wow! Kita Hebat!" (Wow! We are great!). Wow is the acronym for World of Wonders, a recognition given by Lonely Planet to Perak during the Visit Perak 2017 tourism campaign.

Logo

The official logo of the 2018 Sukma Games is an image that combines the elements of human and water wave. The human element symbolises the fighting spirit of the athletes at the highest level to achieve success and their positivity, while the water wave element represents the Perak River as the second longest river in Peninsular Malaysia that is the source of the basic needs for all Perak citizens. It was launched on 21 January 2018 at the Bulatan Amanjaya in Ipoh alongside the motto, mascot and the theme song.^[15][16]

Mascot

The official mascot of the 2018 Sukma Games is a Seladang or a Malayan Gaur named "Chor". In Perak, Chor is a name given to anyone in the local community who is the eldest in the family in the Perak Malay dialect. The mascot is designed to wear white sports attire, with its cheeks in yellow, both are which colours of the Perak state flag. It was chosen to portray physical and mental strength and burning spirit of overcoming challenges in sports.

Theme song

The theme song of the 2018 Sukma Games is “Wow! Kita The Greatest!” (Wow! We are the greatest!). It was composed and sung by Renowned composer and award-winning singer Datuk Wah Idris.^[17]

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was held on 11 September 2018 at the Perak Stadium at 8:00 pm.

The proceedings:

1. Arrival of Sultan of Perak, Nazzrin Shah and dignitaries.
2. National anthem and state anthem of Perak.
3. Prayer recitation.
4. Parade of states. Sarawak as host of last edition of Sukma entered stadium first, followed by other states by alphabetical order in Malay language. Johor as host of next edition of Sukma entered the stadium ahead of guest team from Brunei. As per tradition, Perak as host state entered the stadium last.
5. Countdown projection.
6. Dato Wah Idris and Ikhwan performed the games' theme song, "Wow, Kita the greatest".
7. Introductory performance: Indera Sakti.
8. Speech by sports minister Syed Saddiq, Perak state chief minister Ahmad Azumu.
9. Sultan of Perak Nazzrin Shah declared the games opened.
10. Final leg baton relay followed by Lighting of the cauldron. The cauldron resembles the keris, a Malay dagger which is the symbol of the king's power.
11. Raising of the Sukma Games flag by Royal Malaysian Navy personnel.
12. Ahmad Khusyairi Abdul Razak, national shooter take the Athletes' oath.
13. Cultural performance with 3 segments: Pahlawan Dabus (Dabus warrior), Perak Wow, Perak Gemilang (Glorious Perak), drumline and war cry performance. Intel drone and firework performance.

^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]}

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on 22 September 2018 at the Perak Stadium at 8:00 pm.

Events:

1. Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah declared the games closed.
2. Eugenius Lo Fah Soon, Sabah archer awarded best sportsman title, Azreen Nabila Alias, Terengganu sprinter awarded best sportswoman title, Terengganu crowned as overall champion.
3. Cauldron extinguished, games hosting rights handed over to Johor, host of the 2020 Sukma Games. Followed by cultural performance of Johor.^[25][26]

Participating states

Sports

On 12 December 2017, sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin announced that weightlifting, sepaktakraw and taekwondo have been dropped from the list of 19 core sports as well as the games' sports list due to decline in performances, doping issues as well as power struggles within the associations, leaves only 16 core sports for the 2018 edition.^[27] This decision however had drawn dissatisfaction from several sports council across the country including Sarawak and the Federal Territory.^[28][29] On 8 February 2018 after a discussion with the sports associations involved in the issue, Ahmad Shapawi announced during an organising committee meeting that weightlifting, sepaktakraw and taekwondo were reinstated as the games events but only as elective sports. At the same time, a total of 29 sports were confirmed as part of the games programme.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Calendar

OC

Opening ceremony

●

Event competitions

1

Gold medal events

CC

Closing ceremony

September		8 Sat	9 Sun	10 Mon	11 Tue	12 Wed	13 Thu	14 Fri	15 Sat	16 Sun	17 Mon	18 Tue	19 Wed	20 Thu	21 Fri	22 Sat	Events
Ceremonies					OC											CC
Archery										8	8	2	2	2	2		24
Athletics											7	11	13	14			45
Badminton			●	●	●	●	●	2	●	●	●	5					7
Basketball	5 on 5								●	●	●	●	●	●	2		2
	3 on 3													●	2		2
Bowling								2	2	1	●	2	●	2	2		11
Boxing									●	●	●	●	●		9		9
Cricket					●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	1		1
Cycling	BMX										2						2
	Mountain Bike											2	2				4
	Road					2	1	1									4
	Criterium								2								2
	Track													●	4	8	12
Diving											2	3	2	2	1		10
Football	Football	●	●	●	●	●	●		●		●		1				1
	Futsal		●	●		●	●	●	●		●	●	2				2
Golf									●	●	4						4
Gymnastics	Artistic										2	2	10				14
	Rhythmic				●	1	4										5
Handball									●	●	●	●	●	2			2
Hockey							●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2		2
Judo						7	6	2									15
Karate									6	6	6						18
Lawn Bowls							●	●	●	4	●	●	●	●	5		9
Muay									●	●	●	●	●	15			15
Netball										●	●	●	●	●	●	1	1
Pencak Silat								●	●	2	2	2	2	8	10		26
Petanque							2	●	3	●	4	●	2				11
Rugby									●	2							2
Sailing									●	●	●	●	●	13			13
Sepak Takraw								●	●	2	●	●	4	●	2		8
Shooting									4	6	6	6	4				26
Squash										●	●	2	●	●	●	2	4
Swimming											8	8	7	8	7		38
Taekwondo											3	6	6	4			19
Weightlifting								4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4		32
Wushu					5	7	11										23
Daily medal events		0	0	0	5	17	25	11	22	35	58	55	61	74	53	11	427
Cumulative Total		0	0	0	5	22	47	58	80	115	173	228	289	363	416	427	427
September		8 Sat	9 Sun	10 Mon	11 Tue	12 Wed	13 Thu	14 Fri	15 Sat	16 Sun	17 Mon	18 Tue	19 Wed	20 Thu	21 Fri	22 Sat	Events

Medal table

• Gold medal tie in Artistic Gymnastics Women's Individual All-around.

  *   Host nation (Perak)

2018 Sukma Games medal table

Rank	State	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Terengganu	56	51	53	160
2	Federal Territory	52	38	49	139
3	Selangor	47	68	67	182
4	Sarawak	42	36	60	138
5	Perak*	37	50	56	143
6	Sabah	35	28	46	109
7	Pahang	33	20	30	83
8	Penang	32	30	31	93
9	Johor	29	34	37	100
10	Kedah	19	20	29	68
11	Malacca	18	18	18	54
12	Negeri Sembilan	13	18	43	74
13	Perlis	12	7	13	32
14	Kelantan	6	7	13	26
15	Brunei	0	1	3	4
Totals (15 entries)		431	426	548	1405