China Guangdong conquer FCAS International Dragon Boat Race
KOTA KINABALU: The China Guangdong dragon boat team returned to dominate the 5th Sabah FCAS International Dragon Boat Race which ended at the Likas Bay near here yesterday.
The Ying Ao Shunde Xingtan squad won in all four of the categories they took part in, including the main Sabah Headof-State Trophy.
China Guandong, who won the main title back in 2016, also won the Sabah FCAS Dragon Trophy, as well as the Men and Mix Team Open races.
In the Sabah Head-of-State Trophy tussle, China Guangdong staved off a late challenge from defending champions Sayang Lawas of Sarawak to win the 800m race in three minutes and 55.1 seconds (3:55.10s).
Sayang Lawas settled for second place in 3:57.91s, followed by Brunei Dragon Boat A team in 3:58.71s in the event, which was opened to international and top Malaysian men’s teams.
Earlier, China Guangdong also won the Sabah FCAS Dragon Trophy, an 800m race Mix Team race for international and Malaysian teams.
China Guangdong clocked 4:00.31s to deny two Brunei teams in Pasukan Lela Cheteria (4:00.61s) and Brunei Dragon Boat Team A (:4:04.09s).
In the Mix Team Open 200m Race (international and Malaysian teams), China Guangdong won in 58.67s, followed by Pasukan Lela Cheteria Team B in 1:02.47s and City Council of Penang Island (MBPP Dragon) in 1:02.80s.
The other title came in the Men’s Team Open 200m Race, where China Guangdong won in 51.67s while Landas Sarawak A came in second at 56.99s and Sayang Lawas B third in 58.80s.
The annual race also featured a new category for the Kota Kinabalu Mayor Trophy, which was for invited local authorities men’s teams.
Majlis Daerah Tuaran won in 4:02.27s, followed by DBKK Dragonz in 4:04.30s and MBPP Dragon in 4:07.92s.
The other main race was the Sabah Chief Minister Trophy, where Landas Sarawak emerged as champions in 4:00.09s followed by Lawas Dragon Boat Team (4:01.19s) and Pasukan Kampung Nelayan 2 (4:02.09s).
Overall, there were 11 races featured in the annual race this year.
Meanwhile, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal handed over a contribution of RM250,000 from the state government to the Federation of Chinese Association Sabah (FCAS) at the event.
Shafie as well as FCAS president Tan Sri TC Goh and vice president-cum-organising chairlady Datuk Susan Wong later accompanied Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin in presenting the prizes to the winners.
A crowd of thousands attended the annual race, which happened to be Shafie’s first official function as Chief Minister, which attracted around 120 teams including international entries from China and Brunei.