Sabah trio emerge the champions
Published on: Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: Three Sabahans emerged as overall champions after the final leg of the 2017 Asia Mountain Bike series which concluded in Bukit Siol, Kuching, Sarawak recently.Top women rider Natahsya Soon took the overall title in the Women Elite Individual Downhill with 68 points having won a spot on the podium in Tambunan, Timor Leste, Japan and Kuching.Former Sukma champion Jr Stanly Jalip accumulated 36 points to take the Men Master Individual Downhill title by finishing on the podium in Tambunan and Kuching, while Sharin Amir triumph in the Men Master Cross Country Olympic with 60 points having won in Tambunan, Timor Leste and Kuching.ADVERTISEMENT The three had also earlier been crowned Malaysian National Champion for winning the same event in the Tambunan series back in August.President of the Sabah State Cycling Association, Raijas Anang was full of praise for the three riders."It was a very phenomenal win for our three riders to clinch the prestigious titles as they had to compete with professional riders from Kazakhstan, Portugal, South Africa, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, India, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Timor Leste and Malaysia's national riders."With the success, he said the association are looking forward to next year's series under the 2018 Union Cycling International Calendar starting in March with the Timberlan, Philippines leg.ADVERTISEMENT "The Sabah State Cycling Association with the strong support of the Sabah State Youth and Sports Ministry is very much looking forward to sending more elite riders to race in the Asia Mountainbike series next year."We strongly believe that Malaysian riders should get more exposure to race internationally with professional riders, as this series also awarding important UCI point for riders to secure nation and individual ranking toward the Tokyo Olympic 2020 qualification."
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Meanwhile, Sabah will play host to two series in the 2018 Asia Mountain Bike series with the Keningau series held in conjunction with the Visit Keningau Year on July 27-29 and the finale in Tambunan on December 7-9.Both events are sanctioned by the Union Cycling International and the UCI Junior Cross Country Olympics World Series will also be held at the same time while the Malaysia National Cycling Association will host the Malaysian National Championship at the Keningau series as well. - GL Oh