Impressive achievements by Sabah
Sabah notched impressive spor ng achievements despite major changes in the country’s poli cal landscape this year. This affirms that the tradi on of sports is not limited to racial sen ment, religion or poli cal affilia on.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah notched impressive sporting achievements despite major changes in the country's political landscape this year. This affirms that the tradition of sports is not limited to racial sentiment, religion or political affiliation.
The achievement of winning 32 gold medals, 28 silver and 46 bronze at the 19th Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Perak on September 12-22 is a clear reflection on Sabah's prestigious record as the biennial event is the biggest sporting carnival in the country.
The silat squad made the biggest contribution with five gold, two silver and three bronze, followed by archery (4-2-0), weightlifting (3-4-2), sepaktakraw (3-1-0), diving (3-0- 2), athletics (2-6-8), karate (2-4-5), sailing (2-2-0), tenpin bowling (2-0-0), muaythai (1-1-3) swimming (1-1-1), hockey (11-0), boxing (1-0-6), cycling (1-0-4), rugby (1-0-0), judo (0-2 -3), artistic gymnastics (0-2-2), squash (0-0-3), lawn bowls (0-0-2), taekwondo (00-1) and football (0-0-1).
A total of 29 sporting disciplines were contested and the state contingent, comprising of 424 athletes (235 men, 189 women) and 141 officials took part in 23.
However, the men's and women's futsal squads had to withdraw even before the competition began, following an outbreak of mumps symptoms at the venue.
Sabah finished in eighth place overall out of 15 participating teams, where Terengganu emerged as the overall champions with 56 gold medals, 51 silver and 53 bronze, followed by Federal Territory in second (52g-38s-49b) and Selangor third (47g-69s-67b).
It was the highest achievement in the history of Sabah's participation in the event which is dubbed as the country's 'mini Olympics' where most of the sports practiced in the country were contested.
It achievement exceeded the 28 gold medals, 38 silver and 42 bronze medals (28-38-42) that Sabah won during their hosting of the ninth edition in 2002.
Archery ace Eugenius Loh Foh Soon won the SUKMA 2018 Sportsman Award making Sabah's achievement even sweeter.
The 17-year-old from KK High School won the award for his outstanding achievement of four gold and two silver medals in the men's compound events. This included a maximum score of 360 points to equal the national record in the 30m and 342 points as well as 349 points for a games record in the 70m and 50m respectively.
This year's achievement also reflects progress in the of sports in Sabah as it is also the fourth consecutive edition that the state contingent recorded improvement since the SUKMA Pahang in 2012 where Sabah won 18 gold, 20 silver and 52 bronze medals. Sabah won 21 gold, 31 silver and 44 bronze in Perlis in 2014, while in Sarawak two years ago Sabah won 25 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze.
Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports-cum-Chef de Mission, Arunarnsin Taib is confident that Sabah will grow stronger for even better achievements in future.
"With hard work, commitment and discipline of all involved, I am confident that Sabah will continue to move forward in the coming SUKMA," he said.
Later, Sabah went on to notch another historical achievement at the same venue. This time it was at the 19th Malaysia Para Games (November 21-28), the biggest sporting carnival for disabled athletes.
Sabah sent a contingent of 159 people comprising 98 athletes and 61 officers, joining nine sporting events and returned home with 36 gold medals, 28 silver and 30 bronze.
The athletics squad became a source pool of medals contributing 19 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze (19-12-10), while the swimming squad became the second biggest contributor with six gold, three silver and four bronze, followed by table tennis (4-5-11), archery (3-4-1), chess (33-2), badminton (1-0-1) and tenpin bowling (0-1-1).
Sabah concluded the games as runner-up in the overall medal standings.
The success was big improvement on achievements at the previous edition in Sarawak where Sabah won 25 gold medals and finished fourth.
The historical achievement was highlighted by the success of Jacklon Ganding who won the Sportsman Award after bagging three gold medals with new records in the 100m, 200m and long jump events in the T37 category for athletes with coordination impairments.
"As far as I know, this is a remarkable achievement ... the best ever," said Permanent Secretary to the Youth and Sports Ministry Datuk Awang Damit Awang Anak.
In other developments, football which is the world's number sport also captured its share of attention in Sabah this year.
The senior squad, led by head coach Jelius Ating, concluded sixth in the Premier League standings but impressed by reaching the semi-finals in the Malaysia Cup.
Sabah's last outing previously was in the 2011 edition and an appearance in the round of last four in the country's most prestigious football tournament was considered a big achievement.
The junior squad also did not disappoint when it reached the quarter-finals of the President's Cup (under 21) and the Youth Cup (under 19) tournament, while the SUKMA team retained their bronze medal.
It was unfortunate that the efforts of Sabah teams to create history this year was 'marred' by the turmoil that hit the Sabah Football Association (SAFA) after the resignation of its former president and former Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman in June.
Without the president, the governing body for the sport lost direction and was burdened with financial problems.
The problem continued to persist even after the SAFA Congress in August, which saw Alijus Sipil voted as president. It continued and brought uncertainty after the senior squad ended its season campaign in October.
They concluded the challenge with a 2-2 draw with Perak in the first leg of the Malaysia Cup semi-final at the Likas Stadium on October 20. The second leg in Perak saw them lose 5-0 and eliminated on a 7-2 aggregate.
With the on-going financial difficulty, Alijus raised the 'white flag' and surrendered the SAFA Supremo seat in November.
A few days before the confirmation of Sabah's participation in Malaysia's rivalry was closed, SAFA was rescued by the presence of Infrastructure Development Minister, Datuk Peter Anthony who received the green light from Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal to lead SAFA, following a SAFA Congress on December 12.
After it became official that Peter is the new president of SAFA, players in the senior squad were all paid the four months arrears owed to them.
Peter, who is also president of the Malaysia Kadazan Dusun Murut Organisation (KDM Malaysia) and owner of the KDMM Football Club, wants to open a new chapter to restore football glory in Sabah.
"With the cooperation of all parties, irrespective of the political, racial and religious beliefs, which is the way it should be in sports, I believe we will be able to open a new chapter and restore football glory in Sabah," Peter said.