Syarul defends title for third year in a row
Azman Mike Mahen successfully defended his athletic physique up to 167cm title at the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Saturday.
The 45-year-old flexed his muscles to near perfection to overcome favourites Truong Quoc Long of Vietnam and Narongsak Phantusak of Thailand in the 16-field event.
Syahrul, a former national youth footballer, is the first bodybuilder to win the category three times in a row at the world meet.
It was an emotional victory for the bodybuilder as he had struggled to raise funds for competitions this year.
“It is great to end the season with this title.
“I trained so hard for this competition. The biggest challenge was to attract sponsors.
“I do not have many sponsors but luckily, I managed to get the incentive that I was entitled to from last year’s win.
“I am so happy that I made the country proud. I hope the sacrifices of the national bodybuilders will be recognised one day,” said Syarul.
With the victory, Syarul completed a grand double as he was also crowned Mr Asia for the fourth time in Pune, India in October.
There was more joy as Buda Anchah won the master category (age 40-50) for the second time after 2013 in Budapest. On Friday, female bodybuilder Lilian Tan clinched the 55kg and 30 years and above categories.