Sting Muaythai Club coach Zulkeplie Abdul Rahman (centre) celebrates the achievement with his fighters at the end of the competition.
KUCHING (March 7): Young muaythai fighters from Sarawak excelled at the recent Sabah Muaythai Championship in Kota Kinabalu by bagging 13 gold, six silver, and six bronze medals.
Medal contributors were from the Sarawak Sports Corporation-Sarawak State Sports Council (SSC-MSNS) team, Sting Muaythai Sarawak, D30 Miri Muaythai Club, Kenyalang Muaythai Club, Petra Jaya Kilas Muaythai Club, and PS Muaythai Club Bintulu.
Sarawak State Muaythai Association (PMNS) president Jumaat Ibrahim said he was very satisfied with the Sarawak fighters, especially the five gold medals from the Malaysia Games (Sukma) XXI shadow squad.
He said this was a positive indication of the medal chances for Sarawak in Sukma XXI, which will be hosted by the state in August.
“Congratulations to the Sarawak fighters who have won medals at the Sabah Muaythai Championship, especially the gold medal winners from our Sukma shadow team.
“This is part of a series of exposures that we will give to our athletes to strengthen their preparation from both physical and mental aspects.
“After this, our athletes will go through many more tournaments like this until Sukma is about to start,” he said when contacted.
Jumaat called on the shadow athletes to continue training hard and praised the athletes from the five clubs who contributed medals.
“We really admire and appreciate the commitment from the local clubs by also sending entries to this tournament in order to promote the name of Sarawak.
“For sure, we will continue to monitor those who show potential and may absorb them into the Sarawak squad,” he added.
Jumaat also expressed his gratitude to SSC and MSNS for their support in enabling Sarawak athletes to participate in the championship.
Five athletes from the SSC/MSNS team – Mohd Izzat Zulfaqar Hazrid, Muhd Nurizman Abdullah, Muhd Nuraikal Ismail, Maurien Hii Sie Lin, and Intan Nirmala Mosidi – won a gold medal each.
The team also contributed three silver and three bronze medals through Nur Azirah Mohamad Yudi, Nurashfidah Daud, Mohamad Hasbullah Mood, Muhammad Khuzairi Zaidie, Zulhizam Zulhisham, and Muhammad Nur Aiman Kamaruddin.
The five clubs contributed eight gold, three silver, and three bronze medals.
The gold medallists were Muhammad Hakim Abdullah, Hani Annisa Ismail (Sting Muaythai Sarawak); Declan Casey Daniel and Damian Casey Daniel (D30 Miri Muaythai Club); Rizz Ezzandy Iswandy (Kenyalang Muaythai Club); Mohamad Nur Zikir Aryan Mohd Nazri (Petra Jaya Kilas Muaythai Club); as well as Jonnah Barrac David Lambek and Brian Issac Rhonald (PS Bintulu Muaythai Club).
Those contributing silver medals were Nuno Redzha Norazli and Azra Elhariz Azly (Sting Muaythai Sarawak), as well as Ezra Laxhman (D30 Miri Muaythai Club).
The bronze medallists were Dylan Casey Daniel and Zayne Akash Laxhman (D30 Miri Muaythai Club), as well as Muhammad Zachary Abdullah (PS Bintulu Muaythai Club).
The five-day championship was organised by the Sabah State Muaythai Association and Permas.