Penampang Masters overall winners in athletics meet
KOTA KINABALU: Penampang Masters emerged as the overall champions in the Sabah Masters Athletics Open Championship which ended at the Likas Stadium on Sunday.
The Penampang Masters with 89 athletes collected 43 gold, 19 silver and 19 bronze medals to edge 23 other teams in the eighth edition of the track and field meet.
The defending champions, Papar Masters with 104 athletes, had to settle for second best this time around after collecting 37 gold, 22 silver and 23 bronze medals.
Brunei Masters finished third with 23 gold, 15 silver and 12 bronze medals.
Team SMRC, with 14 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze, as well as Tuaran Masters, with 14 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze, completed the top five teams in the meet.
All in all, the two-day championship organised by the Sabah Masters Athletics Association (SAMAS) attracted 583 veteran athletes including international entries.
The international teams were from Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia and Hong Kong while the rest were clubs in Sabah and other Malaysian states.
SAMAS president Aliudin Jumat had said prior to the championship that the competition was important to improve and strengthen the SAMAS athletics team to face high level international competitions including the Asian and World Masters Championships.
Sabah Sports Board general manager Datuk Penyuki Matta, who was representing Youth and Sports Ministry permanent secretary Datuk Awang Damit Awan Anak, presented the prizes before declaring the championship officially closed.