KUCHING, Sept 23: Sarawak tennis pair Muhd Aiman Hamdan and Jimmy Liong Kai Long claimed the gold medal in the Men’s Doubles category at the 20th Malaysia Games (Sukma XX) today.
The pair defeated Muhd Syabil and Muhd Nur Iman from Selangor with 6-2 and 6-4 in the men’s doubles final that took place at the Jalan Duta Sports Complex in Kuala Lumpur.
Naufal Siddiq Kamaruzzaman and Imran Daniel from Negeri Sembilan took the bronze medal.
According to a news report by the Sarawak Public Communications Unit (Ukas), the victory was made sweeter by the fact that the two young players will be competing for the last time in the Sukma games.
“I am truly thankful to my teammates because all of them have helped me win this competition.
“I also want to thank my family members, friends as well as the coach who has trained me to win this gold medal,” Liong said in an interview.
Meanwhile, Muhd Aiman could not hold back tears when expressing his gratitude to his family for their support throughout his involvement in tennis.
The 21-year-old national athlete said that his focus was now on preparing for the 2023 SEA Games.
Sarawak assistant chef-de-mission for tennis Dato Patrick Liew was very happy and satisfied with the success of Muhd Aiman and Liong in winning the gold medal even though their preparations were initially affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our players are very motivated despite the preparation being slightly affected by the pandemic. But after movement restrictions ended, they pushed really hard in their training and preparations.
“We did not aim for a gold medal at the beginning, but looking at the quality of our players, I was confident they could deliver the gold,” he said.
Deputy Minister for Local Government Michael Tiang presented the medals to the pair.
Muhd Aiman and Soo Hui Yin pair also bagged the silver in the Mixed Doubles tennis final.
Meanwhile, the Sarawak contingent also hauled two more gold medals through the men’s volleyball team and in swimming, with Hii Puong Wei emerging victorious in the men’s 100m backstroke.
Sarawak also picked up three silver medals today in basketball Men’s 3 on 3, in boxing (Men’s Welterweight 63.5-67kg category) and in weightlifting (Men’s 96kg category) as well as 11 bronze medals from badminton, cycling, pencak silat, sailing and swimming.
Sarawak’s medal tally now stands at 28 gold, 39 silver and 52 bronze medals. — DayakDaily
