KANGAR: Sabah’s John Reginald Mau Zong Yan just wanted to enjoy his debut in the Perlis Sukma. He never expected to help his team bag the archery men’s team compound gold with a new Games record.
The Sabah team of John, Wong Co Wan and Mecedger Sage Edie collected 224 points to beat Malacca’s Muhammad Zainurrin Zainuddin, Muhamad Fazreen Fadzly and Muhamad Nor Faiz Ab Aziz who amassed 210 points in the final at the Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Polytechnic grounds in Pauh, on Monday.
The previous record of 215 points, set by Sarawak at the 2012 Pahang Sukma, was first broken by the Malacca trio in the round of 16 after they collected 222 points. They later garnered 223 points in the quarter-finals.
The Sabahans however, had the last laugh when they produced their best performance in the final to beat favourites Malacca with a new record.
John who won the silver medal in the men’s individual compound event last Friday, said the win and the new Sukma record came as a big surprise.
“It’s really a shock. This is my first Sukma and I intended to have fun and learn from the experience but I ended up winning a silver medal and a gold medal with a new Games record,” said the 17-year-old.
“I will now shift my attention to my studies to prepare for the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia). I will think about my future in sports after that.”
Sabah made a clean sweep on the final day of the compound event after their women’s team beat Federal Territories (FT) for the gold medal.
The Sabah trio of Roniza Syafiqah Ronnie Ong, Diana Tsen Mei Fung and Camilly Cynthia Louis collected 212 points to beat FT’s Sazatul Nadhirah Zakaria, Nur Farah Muhammad Anuar and Nur Liyana Atiqah Luqman who collected 209 points.
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