By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, Sept 6: From August 17 to 24, Sarawak hosted the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2024, which resulted in the reset of seven national records and 28 Games marks.
Among the new national records, Selangor’s swimmer Andrew Goh Zheng Yen clocked a time of 27.40 seconds (s) in men’s 50-metre breaststroke, bettering his own mark of 28.10s from the 2023 Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur.
He also clocked one minute and 01.39s (1:01.39s) in the men’s 100m breaststroke, surpassing his own previous mark of 1:02.30s from the 2024 Malaysia Open.
The third national record was set by Perak’s weightlifter Qistina Qharisya Suffia Mohd Muzani, who lifted a total of 144 kilograms (kg) in the women’s 45kg category, obliterating the old mark of 136kg set by Nurul Afiqah Zamzuri at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
Another weightlifter, Muhammad Hafizuddin Roslin, from Perlis, lifted an impressive total of 332kg in the men’s 81kg category, erasing the previous record of 315kg set by Nasir Roslan at the 2021 National Weightlifting Championships.
Meanwhile, Terengganu’s weightlifter Siti Aqilah Farhana Draman lifted 226kg in the women’s 76kg category, eclipsing the old national mark of 225kg set by Sonia Cassendra Masne at the Melaka’s National Junior Weightlifting Championships in 2021.
The sixth national record was set by Kelantan’s runner Muhammad Fakrul Afizul Nasir, who clocked 51.11s in the men’s 400m hurdles, breaking his own mark of 51.26s set at the 2023 Under-20 Asian Championships in Yecheon, South Korea.
Simultaneously, Kelantan’s archer Nur Auni Wafiy Mahusin scored a total of 147 points in the preliminary rounds for women’s compound individual event, surpassing the old national mark of 146 points accumulated by Faten Nurfatehah Mat Salleh at the 2018 Asia Cup in Bangkok, Thailand.
On the other hand, of the 28 new Games records, 16 were in the swimming event, where Federal Territories athletes championed 11 of them, followed by Selangor, who erased three, and one each by Sarawak and Penang.
The 11 new records from Federal Territories’ swim team were delivered by Chong Xin Lin who clocked 29.74s in women’s 50m backstroke and 1:04.06s in the women’s 100m backstroke; Bryan Leong Xin Ren – 24.46s in men’s 50m butterfly and 53.22s in the men’s 100m butterfly; Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry – 1:50.03s in men’s 200m freestyle, 3:55.59s in the men’s 400m freestyle and 15:51.53s in men’s 1,500m freestyle; Isabelle Chiyi Buckley – 32.76s in women’s 50m breaststroke; Jayden Tan Khai Xin – 4:26.94s in men’s 400m individual medley; quartet Chong Xin Lin-Isabelle Chiyi Buckley-Charlotte Loke-Lee Wei Wen – 4:19.79s in women’s 4x100m medley relay; and quartet Yap Min Shun-Bryan Leong Xin Ren-Muhammad Dhuha Zulfikry-Jayden Tan Khai Xin – 3:25.52s in men’s 4x100m freestyle.
Meanwhile, Selangor’s Andrew Goh Zheng Yen clocked a time of 2:16.40s in men’s 200m breaststroke and joined hands with compatriots Teoh Kar Chuan, Jayden Goh Li Jie, and Loke Yew Jien to set 3:49.12s in men’s 4x100m medley relay.
At the same time, Selangor’s women’s quartet team, comprising Morgan Eleven Teo Kai Cheng-Yoong Jia Jia-Lim Shun Qi-Khew Zi Xian, outperformed with a new meet record of 3:55.84s in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, surpassing Sabah’s 2018 mark of 3:56.51s.
The other two fallen Games records for swimming were when Sarawak’s Hii Puong Wei clocked a time of 2:06.59s in the men’s 200m backstroke and Penang’s Tong Yu Jing with 23.06s in the men’s 50m freestyle.
For athletics, Johor’s 21-year-old sprinter Umar Osman set three new Sukma records in the men’s 400m event with a time of 46.78s, the men’s 800m (1:51.19s), and the men’s 4x400m relay (3:12.35s), while Selangor’s Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohammad Rizal renewed the marks for women’s 100m (11.64s) and women’s 200m (23.89s).
The track and field sport also saw Sarawak’s ironman Jonah Chang Rigan register 17.66m in the second throw for the men’s shot put event, smashing the previous record of 17.31m set by Terengganu’s Adi Alifuddin in 2010, while javelin thrower Ng Jing Xuan cleared a distance of 45.12m, erasing the old record of 44.98m set by fellow Sarawakian Ho Sin Hui during the 2008 edition.
In the meantime, Federal Territories’ Khor Jing Hong dominated the men’s 20,000m walk event with a time of 1 hour, 34 minutes, and 38.20s (1:34:38.20s), as Penang’s Wilson Quaik Zhen Han scored 6,690 points in the decathlon event.
For shooting, Negeri Sembilan’s Gan Chen Jie broke two new records when she scored 248.2 points in the 10m air rifle individual event and 499 points in the 50m rifle three-position, while Pahang’s Cheah Zen Hong collected a score of 576 during the qualifying round in the 10m air pistol event.
Ultimately, Sarawak emerged as the overall champion at Sukma 2024 with a haul of 76 gold, 55 silver and 70 bronze medals, shattering five national records and smashing their target of 70 gold.
Sarawak narrowly beat Federal Territories, which captured 75 gold, 65 silver, and 72 bronze medals, while Selangor secured third place with 56 gold, 64 silver, and 61 bronze medals. — DayakDaily
