Kota Kinabalu: Team Karabaw Papar won the overall title with eight gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the Sabah Muay Thai Championship held over the weekend at 1Borneo Hypermall, here.They edged Team Revolution Kota Kinabalu who finished a close second with eight gold, two silver and four bronze medals with Kuala Lumpur Sports Council finishing in third place with seven gold, three silver and four bronze medals.
A total of 32 teams with some 300 athletes from Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan, Kuala Lumpur and the Peninsular took part in the four-day tournament organised by Sabah Muay Thai Association (SMTA).
SMTA President Hj Nazri Abdul Razak said apart from promoting the sport, the competition also served as platform to gauge the state athletes before finalising the Sukma Games.
“I am delighted to see a number of state athletes managed to win gold medals and if they can maintain their good form heading into Sukma Games, we could win a couple of medals in Johor.
“I also hope the athletes will continue to train properly and keep themselves fit before the final selection result which we will announce in April,” he said.
Among the State athletes who won gold were Nurul Tasha Amira Abdul Rahman (Senior Female A-Class Open -45kg), Mohd Nazri Razalee (Youth 16-17 Male Competitive B-Class -71kg), Nur Adriana Dania Nazri (Youth 16-17 Female Competitive B-Class -48kg), Shah Aryan Shahzam (Senior Male A-Class Open 51kg), Areen Khan Shazam (Senior Male A-Class Open 48kg) and Vireen Teo (Senior Female A-Class Open 51kg).
Meanwhile, Nazri who expressed his gratitude to all the sponsors and the support Youth and Sports Ministry , Sabah Sports Council (MSN) and Education department announced that they plan to organise the Sabah Muay Thai Open sometimes in October.
