Kota Kinabalu: Joyce Heng successfully defended her open title at the Thailand Strongest Man and Woman competition which was held in Pattaya on Saturday.
The Sabahan managed to retain the crown she won in 2019 when the competition was last held by beating American Monica Sath who finished in second place while Liou Pei Yin from Taiwan settled for third.
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She was delighted to win her first international title of the year for the country.
“I did not have high expectations coming into the competition. I only tried to do my very best in every routine as none of us know how well our opponents will do on the day.
“I am really happy to contribute one gold medal for the country to repay the faith given by Youth and Sports Minister YB Hannah Yeoh and her Ministry as well as the National Sports Council for their full sponsorship.
“I would like to thank the Minister and all the other parties including my family members and friends for their support. Hopefully I can get similar support in future competition,” she said on Sunday.
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According to her, it was her 28th strongwoman competition since she started eight years ago. She has won a total of 26 golds, one silver and one bronze to date.
She hopes to add another gold at the Asia Strength Games scheduled in June at the Annjat Complex in Brunei.
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Meanwhile, the Malaysian contingent who were set a one gold medal target by the Ministry came home with two golds, one silver and one bronze.
The other gold medal was won by Choo Kok Wei in the men’s under 105kg category while the silver was delivered by Nur Aika Farina in the women’s under 75kg category and bronze came from Abiramy Divyadarshini A/P Delagan also in the women’s under 75kg category.
Another Sabahan Flavia Mannie Luntuk missed out on the podium after finishing fourth in the women’s under 75kg as well.
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