Sabah Muay Thai fighters return with bagful of medals
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah fighters returned with an impressive haul of medals from the Invitational Muay Pre Sea Games KL2017 Championship at The Starling in Damansara Utama, Selangor over the weekend.
The 17-member Sabah Muay Thai squad bagged eight gold, four silver and three bronze medals from the junior (individual) and elite (team) competition.
In the national junior event, seven out of 12 state fighters made it into the finals, in which three were victorious.
The gold medallists were Danish Readwan in the 34kg division for 10-11 years old, Daniel Fiediens Maideh (42kg 12-13 years) and Khallen Barthez Jafili (57kg 14-15 years).
Alyshah Suhana Shazam (girls’ 36kg 10-11 years), Nurfaiz Iskandar Daud (40kg 12-13 years), Kenny Jafili (71kg 16-21 years) and Mohd Syazmiel Shazam (57kg 16-21 years) won the silver medals.
The three bronze medals were from Shah Aryan Shazam (45kg 16-21 years), Areen Khan Shazam (48kg 16-21 years) and Mohamad Rahmad Rahman (32kg 12-13 years).
In the elite team competition which was held on Sunday, all five Sabah fighters won their bouts against Negeri Sembilan in the final.
The gold medals were awarded individually to the winners Mohamad Rayyan Rizqin Mohamad Kassim in the 54kg category, Sunny N. Sabordino (57kg), Mohamad Rizal (63.5kg), Ronald James Tee Chee Xiang (67kg) and Md Noor Ghani (71kg).
Sabah Muay Thai Association president Hj Nazri Hj. Ab Razak was a mirror of happiness following the impressive outing by the state exponents.
He said the initial target was two golds but the state squad not only exceeded that by a six-gold count but bagged a combined of 15 medals overall.
“The medals haul showed that Sabah athletes are making progress and their performance are improving compared to past years,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Nazri added that the development of the sport here that he spearheads along with state association committee members are bearing fruits.
He said the sport here have been actively implemented both at amateur and professional levels.
“Tournaments such as the Pro MuayThai, D1 Fighting Championship, Elite Fight and Sabah Fight are among the international competitions organised by promoters from the state.
“At amateur level, there are competitions such as the Muay Thai Night (MFN) aimed to continuously identify local talents.
“We also have the inter-club and inter-district tournaments held annually as well as competitions organised by district organisers,” he added.
Meanwhile, Nazri said the state association in collaboration with Karabaw Club will be launching a Muay Thai camp in Papar in August.
The camp will house state exponents for training and preparation before taking part in future national and international level tournaments.