KUCHING, May 14: Three Sarawakian para powerlifting athletes in the Malaysian powerlifting team won their gold medals in the 3rd World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, recently.
State Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development (KWKPK) Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah in a statement today said the Malaysian powerlifting team consists of seven athletes, including five Sarawakians competed against 54 athletes from nine countries in the competition.
“The team won three gold and three bronze. Malaysia is ranked 3rd after champion Iran (5 gold and 1 silver) and runner-up Thailand (3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze). All three gold came from our Sarawak athletes namely Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, Nicoldemus Manggoi Moses and Bibiana Ahmad, while Sona Agon won a bronze medal,” she said.
Bonnie from Ta’ee in Serian started training in this sport in 2014 and is currently the world number one ranking in his weight category (72kg and below) by his lift of 226kg and is highly expected to win a medal at the coming Paralympics Tokyo 2021 (August 2021).
Nicoldemus originates from Bintulu and won the gold medal with a lift of 190Kg (88kg and below category). He has been training in the sport since 2011.
Bibiana comes from Lawas and took the gold with a lift of 80kg (67kg and below category) and has been with the sport since 2010, while Sona, who is from Tebedu in Serian, managed to win a bronze medal (73kg and below category).
The other Sarawak powerlifter is 35-year-old Norfariza Mortadza from Miri. — DayakDaily
