Historic moment for S’wak bodybuilding
KUCHING: It was a defi ning and historic moment for the Sarawak Bodybuilding Association (SBBA) at the Youth and Sports Ministry Complex at Putrajaya last Sunday when its bodybuilders clinched the overall title at the Mr Malaysia Bodybuilding Championship.
Besides fielding contestants in all 10 events and making it to the finals of nine events, Sarawak won four gold medals to fi nish ahead of traditional powerhouse Police and Kuala Lumpur.
Apart from winning the Team Malaysia, Sarawak also bagged honours for taking the Champion of Champions crown and the Best Poser award through seasoned campaigner Malvern Abdullah.
The gold medals were delivered by Densi Runya in the bantam weight ( 60.1 - 65kg), Malvern Abdullah in the light weight (65.1 - 70kg) and Eddie Chan from Miri in the heavy weight ( 90kg and above). Finishing fourth in their respective categories were Nolan Chee Chean Sze (masters), Wilfred Harding Jiee ( bantam weight), Awang Mohd Azizul (light middleweight), Jeremiah Rukong (middle weight) and Donny Fam ( light heavy weight).
The other Sarawak competitor was Mohamad Sani Sanawi from Sri Aman who competed in the welter weight (70.1 - 75kg).
SBBA president Dato Wee Hong Seng regarded the victory as a fantastic achievement for Sarawak.
“This is a historic achievement for us and since the SBBA was established in 1963, this is the fi rst time that we won the Team Malaysia and Champion of the Champions titles. That’s a great feat,” he said.
Wee said Sarawak came close to landing the national championship overall champion title in 2011, fi nishing in second spot after Polis.
His goal of bringing Sarawak bodybuilding to greater heights after he took over as SBBA president in 2009 has also been achieved with the successful outing in this year’s Mr Malaysia.
“It is very heartening to see more new members coming in and many bodybuilders being supported by the individual gyms around Kuching, Sibu and Miri,” he noted.
According to him, about 65 per cent of the contestants in Mr Kuching this year are new while about 45 per cent of the SBBA committee this year are new faces.
“Even the team manager and majority of contestants as well as judges to Mr Malaysia are new this year,” he added.
“We are also hoping to produce and t rain more judges for Sarawak,” he said. Wee thanked the Social Development Ministry and its minister Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom for the support and assistance rendered to SBBA over the years.
“Hopefully the state government can allocate more funds to us to identify and groom potential talents to represent Sarawak at Sukma and other national and international competitions,” said Wee.
He also took the opportunity to thank the individual gyms that came forward to sponsor the bodybuilders at the national meet, thus helping to reduce the association’s financial burden.
“We are looking forward to host Mr Malaysia in 2016 and we hope to get sponsorships to run the event. Due to financial constraints, we have to give way to Labuan to host Mr Malaysia next year.”
Meanwhile, team manager Andy Ismail said newcomer Joseph Ladi created a major surprise by winning the f ly weight ( 55.1 to 60kg) title.
“Joseph won the Mr Kuching and Mr Sarawak prior to emerging champion in the same category in Mr Malaysia. He accomplished this incredible feat all in one year. That’s really admirable for a firsttimer,” he said.
Over 100 contestants from Police, the Federal Territories and all states took part in the annual national championship.