Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s Joyce Heng Shu Xia captured the women’s open title at the Felda Strongest competition held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend.
She accumulated a total of 60.5 point from the six routines (yoke walk, tyre flip, river stone, mystery, car deadlift, bus pull) to take home the winning prize, ahead of two Johor representatives Hurun Ain Hasan (56) and Nur Athirah Hee Abdullah (49.5).
The 37-year-old Penampang lass, who won her 30th title since joining the sport in 2017 was delighted with the latest victory despite injury to her arm.
“This time the venue was a bit challenging because it was done indoors. The air-conditioning was so cold making warming up quite hard because your body cools down very fast while waiting for your turn to perform.
“As a result, during my second routine (350kg Tyre Flip) I tore my left forearm muscle and was told to stop, but I insisted on competing and managed to complete all six routines,” she said.
She expressed her gratitude to her family and friends for all their support on her self-funded trip and added that her next competition is the Sibu Strongest Man & Woman to be held in September.
Meanwhile, the five-member State contingent also consisted of Charles Khoo, Flavia Manie Luntak, Alder Ferel Ijap and Ricky Aling and returned with two golds and one silver.
The other gold medal was won by Charles in the men’s Under-105kg and the silver from Flavia in the women’s Under-70kg, while Alder and Ricky finished in fifth and 10th place respectively in the men’s Under-105kg.
