Kota Kinabalu: Sabah made a clean sweep in the open categories of the inaugural Strongestman Challenge Pulapol Kuching held at the Police Training Centre (Pulapol) in Kuching on Saturday.
Desmond Chan and Joyce Heng captured the men’s and women’s titles in the event featuring eight disciplines of Tyre flip (300kg), Truck pull (8 tonnes), Farmer’s walk, Car Deadlift, Yoke walk, Atlas Stone and Bearhug (60 litres).
Desmond with his total of 53.5 points edged Sarawak’s Yong Chee Hang by 0.5 points to take the title, while another Sabahan Randy Roy settled in third with 52 points.
Joyce on the other hand, scored 39 points, three points ahead of second place teammate Flavia Manie Luntak and in third place was Sarawakian Evelyn with 22.5 points.
Despite the comfortable win, Joyce who was self sponsored for the trip said it was still a challenging affair as the organisers made some adjustment on the weights.
“The weight for the competitions was adjusted lighter than the normal standard in order to attract more participants to join.
“Therefore it was a bit of a challenge for me because everything has to be done at a much faster pace and I’m not used to that, so it was a new experience for me doing lighter weights with speed.
“Overall I would say it was a very successful event and hopefully there will be another one next year,” she said.
According to her, the next strongest tournament is likely to be Beijing’s Strongest scheduled on August 3, but before that, she will be taking part in the Malaysia National Arm Wrestling Championship to be held in Centre Point here on July 6-7.
“State arm wrestling coach Jolly Johnson has asked me to represent the State in this year’s competition.
“This will be a new experience for me to challenge the best in the country and I will definitely give my best to make the State proud.”
