Kota Kinabalu: Sabah junior muay thai exponents contributed two silver and two bronze medals for the national contingent at the recent IFMA (International Federation of Muaythai Associations) Asian Muaythai Championship held at the Corniche Flag Pole Area in Abu Dhabi.
The silvers were delivered by Kallen Barthez Jafili in the Boy’s 60kg Youth 16-17 year category and Nur Adriana Nazri in the Girl’s 48kg Youth 16-17 category, while the bronze medals came from Nurul Tasha Amira (Women’s 45kg Elite) and Vireen Teo (Women’s 51kg Elite).
Malaysia ended the one week competition with two gold, three silver and four bronze medals and the two golds were delivered by Sarawakian siblings, Johan Ghazali (Boy’s 44kg Youth 12-13 years) and Elias Ghazali (Boy’s 57kg Youth 16-17 years).
The contingent’s other silver was won by Sharmien Adriana (Girl’s 50kg Youth 12-13 years) and the two bronze medals contributed by Mohd Kamarul Ikhmal (Men’s 54kg Elite) and Ayu Adiqah (Girl’s 48kg Youth 16-17 years).
Sabah Muay Thai Association (SMTA) President Hj Nazri Abdul Razak was pleased with the State athletes’ performance at the high level championship held for the first time with more than 350 athletes from over 25 different Asian countries taking part.
“Even though our four State athletes did not win any gold medals, they however, showed that they have the potential to be the best muay thai fighters in the country.
“I hope that they will learn from the experience and move forward to improve themselves even more,” he said.
He added that SMTA will try their best to send more athletes to compete at international championships next year to further strengthen the state Sukma Games squad.
“I want all muay thai exponents in the State to continue their training routines and improve themselves in order to get selected by the association to represent both Sabah and Malaysia in the future.”
Meanwhile, he said the national team, despite consisting of only nine athletes as compared to other countries managed to bring home medals from each of the athletes in their respective categories in the Abu Dhabi trip.
“This should motivate both state and national bodies to further improve the quality of our muay thai athletes so that more success will be achieved,” he said.
