Stars of Rio light up the big day
PUTRAJAYA: The atmosphere at the Hari Sukan Negara fiesta here was certainly exciting, but the biggest draw had to be the appearance of the Malaysian Olympians and Paralympians.
Wherever the likes of Datuk Lee Chong Wei, Pandelela Rinong, Ridzuan Puzi and Azizulhasni Awang went, there was always a large crowd of people, just trying to get a glimpse of their sports heroes.
At the National Sports Institute, booth in Precinct 2, people were given the chance to pit their skills against the athletes.
Ariff Baihaqi, 18, parked himself in front of the badminton section and waited for two hours to meet the Malaysian shuttlers.
“I knew the badminton players would come here and play with some members of the public, so I came early. I did not want to miss the chance,” said the UiTM Dengkil student.
He got his reward when he was one of those randomly picked to play against Chong Wei and Chan Peng Soon in a doubles match.
His partner was Malaysian doubles player Goh V Shem.
The plucky teenager, who is an aspiring badminton player, did well against the shuttlers and even managed to put a few shuttles beyond the reach of Chong Wei and Peng Soon.
“It was an incredible feeling, to be able to play my favourite sports against athletes I look up to. I feel happy now, the wait was totally worth it,” said Ariff, who regretted not taking a selfie with the shuttlers.
For Ayu Jonathan Seribu, 23, meeting the national athletes has always been her dream.
“I never expected to play badminton with my idol, Chong Wei. I was very nervous and excited,” said the UiTM Puncak Alam student from Sarawak.
Ayu, who has played badminton as a hobby since primary school said Chong Wei has been her idol because he is talented and “very handsome.”
Her friend, Nadzirah Suali, 24, also from UiTM Puncak Alam. too had an opportunity to play badminton with the national athletes.
“I am also a big fan of Chong Wei. I was just so speechless when I was given the opportunity to play with him,” said the Sabahan.
Besides badminton, people were also able to test their cycling abilities on the “Wattbike”, which is an indoor bike trainer.
Their mission was to try to beat the two top scores recorded there – unsurprisingly by national cyclists Azizulhasni Awang and Fatehah Mustapa.
There were also people trying out powerlifting bench press, in an attempt to beat Paralympian Ziyad Zolkefli’s score. Inevitably, most failed miserably.
Putrajaya remained a hive of activity throughout the day with many more events.
Close to 18,000 students took part in the Education Ministry’s Fitness Programme.
The one who stole the limelight were the pre-schoolers who were part of the huge crowd at Persiaran Perdana. The tiny tots won the hearts of spectators as they tried their best in netball and futsal competitions.
Dressed in sports attire, their adorable antics – a shoe coming off in the middle of the contest and using their hands to grab the football - drew laughter from the onlookers.
Parents and teachers were more anxious than the little atheletes. Surrounding the courts, they followed the matches enthusiastically, shouting instructions to the sixyear-olds.
Over in Kuala Lumpur, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin donned a blindfold to play goalball with four teams comprising of visually impaired students from Sekolah Menengah Pendidikan Khas Setapak took part in a mini-tournament at Stadium Titiwangsa.
Goalball is a little known sport specifically designed for the blind.