KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s strongwoman Joyce Heng Shu Xia was on top of the world after winning the Static Monster World title held at the Carrara Stadium in Gold Coast, Australia which ended on Sunday.
The 32-year-old full-time trainer is the first ever Malaysian to hold the Women’s Open title where she won with a lift of 90kg in the Log Press and 240kg in Axle Deadlift for a combined weight of 330kg.
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In second place was Emily Lambkin of New South Wales with 315 total (75 log press, 240 deadlift) while third place went to Alirene Clair (Ali) from Queensland with 310 (80 log press, 230 deadlift).
The victory was her 16th achievement in the strongwoman event and her eighth win this season.
“Actually I’ve been eyeing the trophy since last year…. Finally it is coming back home with me.. Yay!!!
“I am obviously extremely happy with the win for the country and State. It was rather unexpected as I was facing opponents who are much bigger than me,” she texted, soon after the historic win.
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She also expressed her thanks to all those who have given her encouragement and support especially newly appointed Youth and Sports Minister Ginger Phoong Jin Zhe.
Phoong had earlier pledged his support for Joyce to compete at the Static Monster World Championships 2019 in a meeting after learning of her plea for financial assistance on social media.
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He thanked her on behalf of the government for what she has achieved for the State, and promised her some contributions for the competition.
Joyce had made it to Gold Coast after she accumulated a total of 305 points to finish first in one of the Static Monsters qualifiers held in Hong Kong last year.
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Only those who made the final top 10 list, with points calculated from the 39 worldwide qualifiers held over the weekend of October 27 and 28, 2018 qualified for the Gold Coast competition, and Joyce finished in fifth place. She was also the only Asian to make the cut.
A week before the world championship, she also took part in the North & Central India’s Strongest woman competition held at St Xavier Blessing, Guragran, Haryana, India, where she finished second overall.
