Sandakan emerge champions again
KOTA KINABALU: Sandakan emerged as champions at the Sabah Table Tennis Championships which was held at Dewan Pak Musa in Beaufort, over the weekend.
They dominated the statelevel championships with nine gold, three silver and seven bronze medals to retain the overall crown with 151 points.
Papar were second with two gold, four silver and four bronze medals (67 points), while last year’s runners-up Kota Kinabalu were third with one gold, three silver and seven bronze medals (66 points).
Tawau were fourth (1g, 3s, 3b - 49 points), followed by Keningau in fifth (1g, 1s, 6b 47 points), while Lahad Datu completed the list of top six teams (1g, 1s, 1b-36 points).
A total of 12 district teams competed including Penampang, Beaufort, Ranau, Tuaran, Tenom and Kudat.
The nine gold medals won by Sandakan included the Men’s and Women’s team events, while Lahad Datu and Tawau were second respectively.
Sandakan also won the Men’s Singles through Chai Kiang Peng who defeated Keningau’s Chan Chee Yang in the final.
Sandakan also won the Women’s Singles title after Annie Kong Siaw Mei beat her teammate Zoe Fong Yi Chong to complete the double.
In addition to winning double gold medals in the team and singles categories, Sandakan also won the Boys Under-18, Girls U-18, Boys U15, Girls U15 and Girls U13.
Zoe contributed again in the Girls U-18 beating Tawau’s Loh Qian Ni, while Mervin Wong beat Kota Kinabalu’s Aaric Wong in the Boys U-18. Mervin also won the Boys U-15 where he beat Joshua Chin Yu Jie from Kota Kinabalu.
Victories from Zanetta Fong and Lo Shu Thong in the Girls U-15 and Girls U13 respectively completed the gold medals haul for Sandakan.
A total of 15 categories were contested where the other six gold medals were divided between Papar, Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Lahad Datu and Tawau.
Papar won the Veteran Singles and Boys U-13 through Ching Pao Ming and Muhammad Izzuddin Sainin, while Kota Kinabalu won the Perpaduan Men’s through Abdul Mulok Linggi.
Keningau, Lahad Datu and Tawau won the Perpaduan Women’s (Marylind D), Boys U-10 (Harvey Thien Li Xi) and Girls U-10 (Fung Jia Wen) respectively.
Meanwhile, Sabah Table Tennis Association president Edward Chua congratulated all the winners and thanked all the teams and players for taking part in the championships. Chua is also president of the Kota Kinabalu Table Tennis Association.
Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun, who is also Beaufort Member of Parliament, officiated at the opening ceremony and welcoming dinner.
For the record, Tenom will host the next statelevel championships in 2019.