Kota Kinabalu: Four Sabahan armwrestlers were crowned world champions after capturing gold medals at the IFA World Armwrestling Championship 2023 which was held at the Bukit Jalil Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.
Former champion Joffey Jolly was the only senior winner in the male right hand -70kg category, having first won it in 2019.
The other gold medallists are juniors Wayner Weew Oliver (Under-18 right hand –63kg), Junior Daniel Marcus (Under-15 right hand -70kg) and Nathanael Evander Sooyon (Under-15 left hand 70kg).
The Malaysian team collected a total of 10 golds, eight silvers and 12 bronzes to finish fifth in the seven-day competition which was participated by some 500 athletes from 31 countries.
Fourteen Sabahans represented the country and apart from the four gold medals, they also contributed three silvers through Nathanel Evander Sooyon (Under-15 right hand 70kg), Radical Randie Mu (Under-21 right hand +95kg) and Junior Daniel Marcus (Under-18 left hand -70kg) in addition to five bronzes from Jolly Johnson (grandmaster right hand 86kg), Wayner Weew Oliver (Under-18 left hand -63kg), Raymond Wong Chung Phin (senior right hand -70kg), Radical Randie Mu (Under-21 left hand +95kg) and Juan gary Dalliam Binchos (Under-18 right hand +78kg).
The State contingent made a triumphant return on Sunday which was greeted by Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ellron Angin and family members at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
Ellron was proud of the achievement by the State athletes and hopes the sport will get more popular in the country and be able to feature in future Malaysian Games (Sukma) and SEA Games.
