PETALING JAYA: Women power came to the fore as Malaysia surpassed their medal target to finish second overall behind the hosts in the Asean University Games (AUG) in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, which ended on Saturday.
Malaysia completed the 12-day competition with 49 golds, 83 silvers and 50 bronzes, exceeding the target of 35 golds.
Thailand emerged overall champions with 98 golds, 57 silvers and 41 bronzes in the Games which was delayed by two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
And out of the 49 golds won, 23 came from the women.
Malaysia competed in 19 out of the 23 sports and the athletics team hogged the limelight with 11 golds.
Tokyo Olympian Azreen Nabila Alias claimed the women’s 100m title in 11.88 seconds and also steered the triumphant 4x100m relay quartet.
The others who lived up to expectations in their events are women’s discus record holder Queenie Ting, triple jumper S. Kirthana and men’s high jumper Mohd Eizlan Dahalan.
It could have been 12 golds but SEA Games gold medallist, Nor Sarah Adi settled for silver after clearing 3.70m in the pole vault.
Swimmer Low Zheng Yong delivered the first gold on the opening day (July 26) when he won the men’s 400m freestyle while national swimmer Sebastian Soon pulled off a triple gold feat in the men’s 400m individual medley, 1,500m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle.
Karate, as always, did not disappoint as they contributed six golds. Vietnam SEA Games gold medallists C. Shahmalarani and Sureeya Sankar continued their dominance in women’s kumite below 50kg and men’s below 67kg respectively.
“It was a good workout for me in preparation for next year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou,” said 24-year-old Shahmalarani, who is pursuing a Masters in Actuarial Science.
“After winning at the SEA Games, I was also determined to win at the AUG as it’s my only chance as I will finish my Masters next year and will not be eligible to compete in the next edition in 2024.”
Taekwondo struck gold for the first time with world championships silver medallist Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim winning the women’s individual poomsae.
Wushu world champion Tan Cheong Min, the National Sportswoman of the Year, also shone with two golds despite not competing for the last three years.
“This is my first turnout since the 2019 world championships in Shanghai, so I’m happy to have a chance to gauge my performance after a long break,” said Cheong Min, who came out tops in women’s nanquan and duilian.
The next Games will be in Surabaya, Indonesia, in August, 2024.
GOLD MEDALLISTS
Archery (4)
Mohd Zarif Syahiir Zolkepeli (men’s individual recurve), Iman Aisyah Norazam, P. Kayalvhily, Nuraqilah Khairul (women’s team compound), Nur Afisa Abdul Halil, Nuramalia Haneesha Mazlan, Syaqiera Mashayikh (women’s team recurve), Ahmad Afiq Akhiroman-Syaqiera Mashayikh (mixed team recurve).
Athletics (11)
Kamal Farhan Abdul Rahman (men’s shot putt), Azreen Nabila Alias (women’s 100m), Sadat Marzuqi Ajisan (men’s hammer throw), Mohd Eizlan Dahalan (men’s high jump), Luqman Hakim Ramlan (men’s long jump), Wan Mohd Fazri Wan Zahari (men’s 800m), S. Kirthana (women’s high jump), Queenie Ting (women’s discus), Savinder Kaur (women’s 800m), Daren James Nair Rodney James (men’s 3000m steeplechase), Azreen Nabila Alias, K. Darshini, Nor Sarah Adi, Nur Aishah Rofina Aling (women’s 4×100m).
Badminton (4)
Faiz Rozain (men’s singles), Teoh Le Xuan-Yap Rui Chen (women’s doubles), men’s team, women’s team.
Chess (4)
Rohan Shan Tze Navaratnam (men’s individual), Tan Li Ting (women’s individual), men’s team, women’s team.
Swimming (6)
Low Zheng Yong (men’s 400m freestyle), Welson Sim (men’s 100m freestyle), Ong Yong Qi (women’s 200m butterfly), Sebastian Soon (men’s 400m individual medley and 1,500m freestyle), Terence Ng, Low Zheng Yong, Sebastian Soon, Welson Sim (men’s 4x200m freestyle). Karate (6)Kojiro Yong, Dennis Lim, Chan Zhen Song (men’s kata team), C. Shahmalarani (women’s kumite 50kg), P. Madhuri (women’s kumite 55kg), H. Sureeya Sankar (men’s kumite 67kg), Arulveeran Denishroy (men’s kumite above 84kg), Siti Nur Azwani Nor Azli (women’s kumite 61kg).
Pencak silat (4)
Atiqah Fakhira Shaiful Azli, Nur Husnina Abdul Hamid, Nurmunirah Zaharudin (women’s regu), Nur Adilah Zamri (Class D Putri), Putra Syaid Hidayatullah Ramli (Class H Putra), Haziq Bistaman (Class J Putra).
Taekwondo (1)
Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim (women’s individual poomsae)
Rowing (1)
Mohd Amirul Norhadi (lightweight men’s singles sculls).
Fencing (3)
Tengku Amran Sharif (men’s individual foil), Philippa Jean (women’s individual foil), Chong Hong Ling, Hydheer Natakusuma Akson, Lim Jit Ian, Tengku Amran Sharif (men’s team foil)
Wushu (5)
Tan Cheong Wan (men’s gunshu), Tammy Tan (women’s jianshu), Tan Cheong Min (women’s nanquan), Ang Qi Yue, Chuah Shangyang (men’s duilian), Tan Cheong Min, Loh Ying Ting, Tammy Tan (women’s duilian).
