Serian nails milestone in local sports history

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Assistant Kuching District Education Officer Thomas Kanyan Siam (left) presenting the champion’s trophy to Sibu.

Assistant Kuching District Education Officer Thomas Kanyan Siam (left) presenting the champion’s trophy to Sibu.

Dicken celebrating with Serian players and officials after the prize presentation.

Dicken celebrating with Serian players and officials after the prize presentation.

KUCHING: April 30 marked a special day for Serian as the state’s newest Division celebrated a historic sporting achievement at the Sarawak Astroturf Hockey Stadium along Jalan Padungan.

In its debut appearance, the division’s hockey team captured its first title in the Girls U18 competition by edging Miri Warriors 1-0 in the final of the MSSS Hockey Championship on Saturday.

Powered by four Sukma XVIII players Vantorriyana Piah, Elliekho Jimmy, Josephine Angkun and Jessie Angela Jerard who is also under the 2020 Olympic Programme, Serian entered the semi-finals after drawing 0-0 with Samarahan and Miri.

They went on to narrowly beat Kuching 1-0 in the last four.

In the final, Vantorriyana was the toast of the team as she scored the solitary goal through a penalty corner.

Third and fourth placed teams were Kuching and Bintulu respectively.

“Yes, this is indeed a special and happy moment for us because we are the first team to have won a gold medal and title in 15 sports events competed in the Majlis Sukan Sekolah Sarawak after Serian was made a division six months ago,” a delighted sports supervisor Dicken Kilue said.

He also explained why Serian are a formidable team.

“Last year, our players played for Samarahan who were the champions and the key players are in our winning team this year,” he said.

The players were mostly from SMK Tebakang SMK Serian and SMK Balai Ringin while the rest were from SMK Tebedu and SMK Tarat.

Mahhadir Mohd coached the team and was assisted by Farina Benly while the team chaperon was Nurrul Salwati Che Wahab.

The Boys U18 final saw Kuching beating Sibu 2-0 to lift the champion’s trophy while Samarahan edged Miri for third place.

Meanwhile, Sibu completed a hat-trick of wins when they beat Betong 1-0 in the Boys U12 final.

All players, except for one, were from SK SEDC Lanang which has a celebrated development programme.

Kuching took the third placing after beating Mukah in the play-off.

There was no competition for the Girls U12 due to insufficient teams.

Other divisions involved in the inter-division school hockey championship were Betong and Kapit.