Buda (centre) salutes as the ‘Negaraku’ is being played.
KUCHING (Dec 10): It was a proud moment for Buda Anchah upon hearing the national anthem ‘Negaraku’ being played on the first day of the 13th World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships at Central Phuket Mall in Thailand.
The Sri Aman muscleman not only contributed the first gold medal for Team Malaysia late Friday, but the win came just a couple of days ahead of his 50th birthday.
Buda outflexed Suresh Kumar A of India and Mozafar Ghalavand of Iran to clinch the Men’s Masters (Age 50-60) title.
Buda poses with his gold medal, trophy and certificate. — Photo by Shamsul Aqbary
“National anthem on Day 1 (at) Mr World 2022 in Phuket… One gold for Malaysia (and) ‘Sarawak Ku Sayang’ (Sarawak that I love).
“Also to MBBF (Malaysian Bodybuilding Federation), SBBA (Sarawak Bodybuilding Association), my family, brothers in iron… Hooohaaa!” wrote Buda on his Facebook post after the presentation of medals.
Fellow Bornean, Meilaura Dora Jimmy, also performed well in the Women’s Bodybuilding Open event. The Sabahan bagged the silver behind An-Nimr Yasmin of Tajikistan while the bronze medallist was Jiratha Chuthanichakan of Thailand.
Later, Buda and Meilaura will pair up for the Mixed Pair finals where team-mates Dr Malvern Abdullah-Philomena Dexclyn Siar will also be competing.
Meilaura (left) in a group photo with An-Nimr (centre), Jiratha (right) and event officials.
The four are among the 14 Malaysian athletes vying for titles at the championships organised by Thailand Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Association, under the purview of World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation (WBPF).
The others are Mohd Syarul Azman Mahen Abdullah, Zmarul Al Adam Pulutan Abdullah, Azri Asmat Sefri, Ahmad Faiz Ariffin, Kumareswarren K Ramasamy, Syed Faizal Syed Ali, Azahar Mahamad, Amsyar Anaqie Azahar, Wong Ngai Hoeng, and Shelen Aderina Kok.
Thailand is playing host to over 300 athletes from 34 countries in this edition of the world championships.