Sabah’s biggest ever haul of 32 golds
Sabah bagged another bronze medal in track cycling event to conclude the con ngent’s biggest ever haul of 32 gold, 28 silver and 46 bronze medals in the history of the biennial 19th Malaysia Games (Sukma).
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah bagged another bronze medal in track cycling event to conclude the contingent's biggest ever haul of 32 gold, 28 silver and 46 bronze medals in the history of the biennial 19th Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak.
It was the only medal prospect for Sabah on the final day of the country's premier multi-sport event yesterday. The track riders under head coach Louis Pang did not disappoint in the team pursuit race against Perak.
Waldron Chee, who won a historic bronze in the individual pursuit on Friday, led the charge with fellow riders Lim Chun Kiat, Bong Yong Xian and Darren Chong.
It was the State's first ever participation in Sukma track cycling events and the two bronze medals gave Sabah their footing among the country's top brass at the Velodrome Rakyat in Ipoh.
"Two medals in our first Sukma is not a bad achievement. For us in the track cycling team it felt like a dream," said Pang.
Meanwhile, Sabah's previous high was 28 gold medals which they achieved playing as Sukma host in 2002. This year's achievement also marked a stark improvement on the 25 gold medals bagged at the previous Sukma in Sarawak two years ago.
Out of the 15 sports teams that contributed to Sabah's haul this year, silat topped the charts with five gold medals.
Archery bagged four gold medals courtesy of Eugenius Lo. The 17-year-old from KK High School put his name on a few records including in the 30m compound where he shot down the national record with a perfect score of 360.
His achievements helped to make up for the decline in the team's overall performance as archery failed to equal their haul of six gold medals in 2016.
Weightlifting contributed three from women's events, while sepaktakraw (also with three gold medals) gave Sabah women due recognition for their supremacy in the sport.
They put Sabah at the top of overall achievements in sepaktakraw as Perak, Terengganu, Penang, Kelantan and Sarawak only managed to win a gold medal each.
A few surprises in diving also put Sabah at the top of the charts with three gold and two bronze medals. The haul was equalled by Federal Territory who were second, followed by Selangor and Sarawak with two gold medals each.
Sailing, karate and bowling produced two each to exceed their gold medal targets. Athletics targeted five but fell short with only two. But victory in the men's 4x400m relay and a new games record from Andre Anura Anuar in the men's triple jump helped to make up for any disappointments.
A gold from hockey meant they too joined the ranks of historical achievers. It was the first time Sabah had made it to the finals and gold from the men's squad made up for the defeat to Selangor in the women's category.
Sabah won the men's gold 4-2 on penalties after both sides drew level at 1-1 in regulation time.
Rugby, boxing, Muay Thai, swimming and cycling each contributed one gold medal to include themselves in the roll of honour.
The one from rugby gave Sabah another entry into the history books as it was the first time that women's 7's was featured in the Malaysia Games.
The games concluded with Sabah finishing in eighth place in the overall medal standings with 32 gold, 28 silver and 46 bronze, behind Penang (32g, 30s, 31b), Pahang (33g, 20s, 30b), Perak (37g, 50s, 55b) and Sarawak (42g, 36s, 60b).
Terengganu are champions of Sukma 2018 with 56 gold, 52 silver and 53 bronze medals, while Federal Territory (52g, 38s, 50b) and Selangor (47g, 68s, 67b) are second and third, respectively.