Sabah Muaythai fighters bag gold, silver medals
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Muaythai boxers did well to contribute the two gold medals won by the country in the Jincheon 1st World Martial Arts Youth Masterships in Jincheon, South Korean over the weekend.
A five-man Malaysia squad totalled two golds and three silvers to finish fifth overall in the championship.
Sabah had three athletes in the squad namely Riedzwan Norsyahmie Daud and Kallens Barthez Jafili who delivered the gold medals as well as Kenny Jafili who won a silver.
Riedzwan won in the men’s 48kg while Kallens in the men’s 57kg competitions.
The silver medals were from Kenny in the men’s 67kg division, Sarawak’s Mohd Eswandy Hassan in the men’s 63.5kg category and Negeri Sembilan female fighter Nurul Syahirah Shahrin Borhan in the 48kg competition.
Malaysia’s chief delegate Hj Nazri bin Hj Ab Razak, who is also Sabah Muaythai Association president, was happy that the twogold target was achieved.
Nazri praised the national juniors, especially the Sabah athletes, whom he said were part of the State’s Malaysia Games 2018 programme.
Meanwhile, Nazri said the state and the Malaysia Muaythai Association expressed thanks to the Sabah Sports Council for their strong support of the squad’s participation in Jincheon.
“The support, including from the Youth and Sports Ministry of Sabah, has enabled Sabahborn Muaythai athletes to reach world class standard,” he said referring also to the one gold and two bronzes showing at the International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) Youth Championship in Bangkok, Thailand in August.
Having said that, Nazri said the state association will continue with their programmes including organising the State Junior Championship from November 24-26 in Papar.
“The tournament to be held at the Sabah Muaythai Training Centre in Papar is part of the Sukma first phase of training programme, involving athletes aged between 16 to 21,” he said.