Aussies shine in Asia Triathlon Cup
Published on: Sunday, November 12, 2023
By: GL Oh
The top three winners in the elite events.
Kota Kinabalu: Australians Kurt Wesley and Zoe Clarke captured the men’s and women’s titles in the Asia Triathlon Cup held at Tanjung Aru Beach, Saturday.
The elite race covering 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run saw a tightly contested affair in the men’s event and 26-year-old Kurt, who is ranked 158 in the world, crossed the line in 53 minutes and 0.2 seconds to edge countryman Lachan Jones by only 0.04 seconds followed by another Australian Yoann Colin who was 0 .03 seconds behind.
ADVERTISEMENT
Zoe Clarke on the other hand, cruises to victory in one hour and 0.45 seconds ahead of Manami Iijima (1.01.31) from Guam and Chinese Taipei’s Chang Chi Wen (1.02.30).
In the super sprint triathlon, the men’s open title went to Wan Chak Lam followed by Ryan Liaw Jian Quan and Abd Sapar Abd Kasir in second and third place respectively.
Dayang Zanariah Abang Kashim who took the women’s title was the only competitor in the category.
The top three super sprint winners in each of the age groups were Aitan Hilton Goldberg, Brendon Wong Kai Xuen, Chow Yu Chak (boys 15-16); Lai Ki Nicole Man, Wan Tung Wong, Petra Stamenivic (girls 15-16); Ho Chun Au, Ngai Chun Ting, Chak Yan Wan (boys 12-14); Sarah Elise Modiano, Hayley Tsang and Lok Tung Wong (girls 12-14).
ADVERTISEMENT
Only the women’s open category was held in the sprint triathlon event and the title went to Lui Shuk Han followed by Ashley Uhen Tan Shuet Mei and Wong Win Ner.
In the age group categories, the top three winners were Mohd Azmir Abdullah Sani, Timotius Justin, Adam Lim (men 18-19); Amir Hassan Zainal, Abdul Afiq Rafiuddin Haji, Khairul Amirul Mohd Adnani (men 30-39); Muhd Syamsul Erry Abdullah, Mohd Fetry Habo, Hj Masrody Hj Asli (40-49); Ahmadul Tahir, Jori Lagimin and Wong Chung Phin (men above 50).
ADVERTISEMENT
The mix relay event was won by team Spencer Tsen Sheng Wei, second place went to team Mohd Ikram Suhaimi and in third was team Noor Zakira Zulrimi while only two teams took part in the men’s relay with team Niatin Nujatin coming in first followed by team Baharudin Nordin.
The return of the event after a 23-year lapse saw participants from 12 countries, including Malaysia, with 42 men and 21 women taking part in the elite events while more than 200 participated in the sprint and super sprint events.
Race director Auther J. Kimon said there is a strong possibility that the event will be held again following positive feedback from the participants.
“Triathlon in Sabah is less popular as people don’t swim as much here, that is why we also have the mix relay and the duathlon to be held tomorrow with more than 500 participants expected.
“However, the turn-up for this event today has actually exceeded our expectation and all the athletes who approached me after the race were very happy.
“With the success, I can say we would like to organise again in the future with the support of the Malaysian Triathlon Association,” he said.
He also expressed his gratitude to the Tourism, Culture, and Environment Ministry and all the agencies for their support.
“We are very blessed to have the Ministry as our backbone from the very beginning and also all the agencies who have been very helpful to ensure the success of this event. Hopefully we can work together again next year,” he added.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
