Jonathan, Saritha honoured at UPM Sports Awards

JONATHAN Wong and Saritha Cham Nong were crowned as Universiti Putra Malaysia’s (UPM) 2016 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year at the 33rd UPM Sports Awards on Wednesday.

Both were unable to attend the ceremony as they are in training for Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August.

They received RM2,000, a trophy, a certificate and a watch each.

Last week, national shooter Jonathan, 25, won the gold for the men’s 50m pistol at the Southeast Asia (SEASA) Shooting Championships in Subang, beating 2016 Olympic champion Hoang Xun Vinh of Vietnam.

Archer Saritha bagged the Sportswoman award for a second consecutive year.

Last year, Saritha — a bachelor in human science development student — made history alongside Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh and Nor Rizah Ishak when they won the World Cup Series for the first time in Shanghai.

Saritha was also a 2015 Sea Games gold medallist.

Hockey player Syed Mohamad Syafiq Syed Cholan and sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli and were awarded the Most Promising Male and Female athletes.

Zaidatul was dubbed as Malaysia’s fastest woman after she bettered the 24-year-old national women’s 100m record with a time of 11.45s at the ASA Speed Series 2 meet in South Africa in March.

The Kedah-born lass also ran in the 2016 Oylmpics on a wildcard entry and she is expected to spearhead Malaysia’s challenge in the women’s sprints at the Sea Games.

Former national juniors defender Syafiq has made two appearances for the senior national hockey team, the first at the Four-Nation Invitational in Melbourne last November and at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in April.

Other awards of the night included the Silver, Gold, Dedication and Special Appreciations Awards as well at the best College Sports Athletes (Male and Female). Farah Azharie