SHAH ALAM, Aug 23 — Selangor are celebrating their wins as they broke their SUKMA 80-gold target tonight, with the swimming camp emerging the most successful contingent at this edition.
Earlier today, state executive councillor for youth, sports and entrepreneurship Mohd Najwan Halimi said the state government may declare an occasional holiday if Selangor emerge overall SUKMA champions.
“However, this will only be (decided) after the final medal tally. If we emerge overall champion, maybe we will consider granting a holiday.
“Incentives for athletes will be mobilised after SUKMA is over,” he told a press conference on Selangor’s medal tally here today.
The state’s current medal tally stands at 97 gold, 71 silver and 69 bronze, for a total of 237 medals that put it at the top of the leaderboard.
At Selangor Aquatic here, Eliza Tan Ai Shen took gold in the women’s 50m freestyle.
She clocked 26.44s to overcome Perak’s Nadia Lim, who finished in 26.56s for silver, and the Federal Territories’ Lee Wei Wen, who finished in 26.83s for bronze.
Meanwhile, Daniel Scott Williams won the men’s 100m backstroke. He took just 57.07s to end the competition in first place, leaving silver to Brunei’s Joel Thai Yu Ling with a 57.45s finish and bronze to the Federal Territories’ David Lee Boon Wei with a 58.32s finish.
Teammate Rainne Foo Jie Xin took bronze for Selangor in the women’s 100m backstroke with a 1:06.59s finish. Gold went to the Federal Territories’ Chong Xin Lin with a 1:07.70s finish, while silver went to Penang’s Vivian Tee Xin Ling with a 1:05.17 finish.
Fellow state swimmer Goh Li Jie took silver in the men’s 800m freestyle, logging 8:30.77s to finish second behind the Federal Territories’ Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry, who took 8:18.63s to finish.
And in the women’s 1,500m freestyle, Chong Yuan Yi earned bronze for Selangor by finishing in 18:3.20s, behind Penang’s Tan Rui Nee, who took gold with an 18:1.87s finish.
Rainne, Khoo Sue Enn, Shannon Tan Yang-Qing and Eliza then clocked 4:18.87s to overcome the previous 4:19.79s record, with silver going to the Federal Territories (4:21.78s) and bronze going to Perak (4:26.79s).
The victory also saw Shannon earning her eighth gold this SUKMA.
Selangor’s men’s 4x100m medley relay had to make do with silver with a 3:48.62s time. Daniel, Cayden Gooi, Goh Li Hen and Li Jie were left in the dust by the Federal Territories, which took gold in just 3:47.90s.
At the same venue, Selangor closed out their SUKMA diving challenges today with three gold, two silver and four bronze.
The state squad’s last medal came from Aeriel Riezqi Abdullah and Ayu Syuhaida Khairul, who placed third in the mixed synchronised 10m platform event.
Selangor’s three gold came from Muhammad Haris Mohd Rezal in the men’s 1m springboard, Uzlifatil Jannah Ashraf in the women’s 1m springboard, and Ayu Syuhaida in the women’s 3m springboard.
Haris took the spotlight when he defeated two national divers to emerge champion in the men’s 1m springboard event.
Meanwhile, at MBSA Tanjung Grand Hall in Section 19 here, Selangor’s volleyball squad put on a good showing by dominating all three sets to win in style in front of the home crowd.
Selangor raised the curtain with a 25-22 win in the first set and continued their momentum in the second set 25-19.
The hosts then clinched the deciding third set with a 25-19 win to confirm their gold.
Over in Klang at KSL Esplanade Mall, Selangor displayed their prowess in muay thai when they took five gold in the final SUKMA events.
Selangor’s domination began with brothers Adhem Syf and Arysh Shaddad Ubaidillah@Nasri, who won the men’s 67kg and 63.5kg events, respectively.
National exponent Putra Abdullah Mahmoud then earned a third gold for the 60kg category after beating Penang’s Muhamad Hakimi Nordin.
Thousands of spectators roared in jubilation when Muhammad Fadzmi Aiman Mohd Fadzli took a fourth gold for the state, beating Perak’s Muhammad Ramadhani Abd Razak with a TKO and having the referee stop the match.
Muhammad Haris Haiqal Helmi then rounded up Selangor’s fifth gold by defeating Sabah’s Ed Ryan Jefferson in the 54kg category.
Earlier, Nur Afifah Zakirah Ahmad Faizal took bronze in the women’s 54kg event.
In Sultan Suleiman Stadium, the women’s rugby squad defended their SUKMA gold by thrashing Sarawak 41-0 in the final at Sultan Suleiman Stadium here today.
In front of the home crowd, the hosts displayed an energetic game from the starting whistle despite the heat.
Two tries by Nurul Fatin Hidayah, and one each from Noor Azzuwa and Nur Irish Qistina, put Selangor in the lead 22-0 in the first half.
Selangor’s domination continued after the break when Nurul Fatin Hidayah, Nur Irish Qistina and Putri Dulillah added a try each to bring the squad to a 41-0 victory.
Over at Bayuemas Indoor Stadium, Selangor’s lawn bowls camp pulled off an excellent SUKMA showing by taking two gold today.
The first gold came from Andrian Asyarani Khabini in the men’s individual event, and the second was clinched by Puteri Aira Azman Shah, Nur Dina Najwa Tarmizy Abdullah, Lia Zuleeqa Zilhan Azril Hasrul and Damia Aleesya Mohd Irman in the women’s trio event.
And at MBDK Hall in Bukit Raja, Selangor’s table tennis camp closed out its final day with one gold and two silver today.
Cheah Yu Zheng set aside her nerves and beat the Federal Territories’ Gan Ai Lis 4-2 to take gold in her first SUKMA appearance.
Selangor rallied to the mixed and men’s doubles finals, but settled for silver in both after falling to Sarawak and Penang.
Lee Yong Yi-Hun Hui Qi were beaten 0-3 by Sarawak, while Yong Yi took another silver with Tey Hong Yu after Penang handed them their defeat in the men’s doubles.
Over in Bangi at UKM, Selangor powered through the SUKMA women’s gymnastics individual balance beam event, taking the two top spots in the competition today.
Gold went to Cadence Teh Zi Qi, who scored 13.000 points, 5.600 of which was for difficulty and 7.400 for execution.
Teammate Nicole Wong Ziyi then took silver with 11.867 points, comprising 4.200 points for difficulty and 7.667 points for execution.
