Kuching win title in style

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NUMBER 12: The jubilant Kuching team members posing for a group photo after having sealed their 12th consecutive victory at the recent 52nd Sarawak Tan Sri Datuk Jimmy Lau Hieng Wui Table Tennis Championship in Miri. — Photo courtesy of James Chen

Team victorious in 52nd Sarawak Table Tennis Championship

KUCHING: Kuching reigned supreme at the recent 52nd Sarawak Tan Sri Datuk Jimmy Lau Hieng Wui Table Tennis Championship and baggedtheir 12th consecutive title in style.

They captured 16 gold, 12 silver and 17 bronze medals after having won 16 out of 24 events contested.

The medal haul was also better than last year when they won 15 gold, 11 silver and 17 bronze medals.

The delighted team manager and coach Helena Christine Wee was full of praise for the Kuching paddlers and expressed optimism for improvement in the future.

To her, the victory was not easy as there were many challenges to surmount and some of the events were keenly contested.

“We won 15 out of 22 events last year and this year with the inclusion of two new events in Boys under 13 Hopes and Girls under 13 Hopes, we managed to win 16 out of 24 events,” she said.

Wee had expected 11-time Non-Chinese category singles champion, Matteus Aloysius to win his 12th consecutive title but the UiTM sports science student suffered an upset 3-4 defeat to the unfancied Osman Abdullah from Miri in the final.

“Matteus lost because of inconsistent training. He was preoccupied with his study assignments and seldom come to train at our training centre. He also made too many errors in the final game,” Wee lamented.

Nonetheless, she said the outing was still another great achievement for Kuching Division Table Tennis Association (KDTTA) and thanked all those who had contributed and supported the team.

They included the Sarawak State Sports Council, KDTTA president, honorary presidents, corporate and individual sponsors, parents and table tennis enthusiasts.

In the team events, the gold medals won by Kuching paddlers were in the Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Boys Under 13 Hopes, Boys Youth and Non-Chinese.

As for individual events, Chai Kian Beng took the Men’s Open singles crown, Kueh Wan May (Women’s Open singles), Andy Jong (Boys Under 18 singles), Tang Wen Jiun (Girls Under 18 singles), Jason Siaw Boys (Under 15 singles), Gabriel Ling (Boys Under 13 singles), Andrea Tan (Girls Under 13 singles), Louis Chung (Boys Under 10 singles), Tay Lynn Jia (Girls Under 10 singles), Chai Kian Beng-Chai Kiang Peng (Men’s Doubles) and Kueh Wan May-Ting Ying Hii (Women’s Doubles).

The silvers medals were contributed by Rayford Kho, Kylie Teo, Derrick Tsai, Alice Chang, Joel Chen, Teo Oh Meng, Christine Goh, Matteus Aloysius and the men’s doubles pair of Rayford Kho and Andy Jong.

The bronze medallists were Chai Kiang Peng-Matteus Aloysius, Tang Wen Jiun-Kylie Teo, Clement Sim, Andrea Tan, Ting Ying Hii, Alice Chang, Ho Zong Chun, Alan Teo, Chong Chuing, Gan Chian Ping, Voon Ah Hee, Iydra Sahari, Matteus Aloysius-Lee Soo Han and Chai Kiang Ann-Jason Siaw.

This year’s host Miri won five gold, seven silver and eight bronze medals for the runners-up spot while Sibu finished third with three gold, five silver and nine bronze medals.

Finishing in fourth to sixth positions were Sarikei (three bronze), Bintulu (two bronze) and Samarahan (one bronze) while Limbang and Mukah went home empty-handed.

Over 300 players from Kuching, Samarahan, Sibu, Miri, Bintulu, Sarikei, Mukah and Limbang took part in the four-day event held at the Miri Indoor Stadium.