KUCHING: The Sarawak Sukma XV petanque team was victorious at the Triangular Petanque Championship in Kuala Lumpur winning four gold and three silver medals yesterday.
With the impressive medal haul and success at the meet, the petanque squad is confident of delivering gold medals at the upcoming Sukma XV in Pahang.
“We won gold in girl singles, girls shooting, girls triple and mixed doubles events at the Triangular Petanque Championship.
“Our silver medals on the other hand were contributed by the boys singles, girls shooting and girls double,” informed state petanque coach Mohd Hamidi Mustaffa yesterday.
The floodgates of medals opened when the trio of Tan Kim Moi, Siti Hasmah and Nur Athirah did the state proud when they beat their opponents 13-5 in the triples event to secure the first gold.
The pair of Mohd Abdul Akram and Fharurina Entering then double the tally through the mixed doubles event.
“We are sending a contingent of 14 players for Sukma this year comprising seven boys and seven girls. Four of the girls represented Sarawak in the 2010 Sukma games held in Melaka.
“The win at the Triangular Petanque Championship has boosted their confidence,” Mohd Hamidi told The Borneo Post.
Sarawak will be taking part in six petanque events at Sukma XV which offers a total of 11 gold medals.
The events are singles, doubles, triples, shooting, mixed doubles and team for boys and girls category.
Mohd Hamidi revealed that the team has shown great improvement in terms of their understanding of the game.
“We have set a target and with the victory today (yesterday), it looks like that we are on the right track. The team members must not be over confident and lose focus,” he added.
Sukma teams of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were the other participants of the Triangular Petanque Championship which ended yesterday.