The victorious Sabah Muaythai team comprising (from left to right) Yan Jia Chi, Myra Arina, Muhammadin, Cyrille Dhillon, Dazaisy Hafiy, Nazri, Mardiana, Thien Zhi Cheng and Dariss Muzzamiel.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabahans have created history for the country and state, winning four golds in two international muay thai competitions held in Selangor recently.
Three of the golds came in the International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) World Youth Muay Thai Championship, the highlight event, while the fourth was from the IFMA World Grand Slam 2022.
In the world youth tourney, the pair of Thien Zhi Cheng and Dariss Muzzamiel Mahadi brought home gold in the Men's Open Wai Kru Mai Muay discipline.
They defeated their opponents from the Philippines in the final with a score of 8.35 to 8.17 points.
Myra Arina Roslan and Yan Jia Chi were not to be outdone by their male counterparts and also grabbed the gold in the Women's Open of the same discipline.
This was the first time the Sabah Muaythai Association entered its fighters for the disciplines and went on to win gold, also a first for Malaysia. The athletes were trained by coach Mardiana Maulana.
Youngster Dazaisy Hafiy Aznee contributed the third gold for state and country in the world youth meet, beating an opponent from Saudi Arabia in the Combat category.
The Sandakan-born lad coached by Muhammadin Jainuddin won with a 30-27 score in the final of the Male Youth 27kg category for exponents aged eight to nine.
The fourth gold was won by Jezzevelle Myora Jerry, trained by coach Rozaimy Ahad, in the World Grand Slam tournament.
Jezzevelle emerged tops in the Female Youth 40kg category for fighters aged 12 to 13.
The association sent a total of 14 exponents to the two championships, held simultaneously at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre from Aug 9 to 21.
A delighted Sabah head coach Cyrille Dhillon Tahing said the golden outing proved that athletes from the state were world class.
“The performance of the athletes made Sabah and Malaysia proud,” he said in a statement on Sunday (Aug 21).
“Hopefully the victorious outing will be a motivation for Sabah muay thai exponents, in particular, to strive for excellence at (global) tournaments,” he added.
Association president Nazri Ab Razak, meanwhile, expressed its appreciation to the Sabah government, Youth and Sports Ministry and Sabah Sports Council for the support given to the association to develop the sport at all levels.
Nazri also thanked the athletes' parents for their sacrifices in ensuring that their children succeeded in the sport.
“I'm really proud of the achievement of Sabah athletes who represented the country and won their respective categories.
“They showed that Sabah has talented athletes of international quality,” he said, urging other young talents to step up and represent the state and country on the global stage.
