By Vikneswaran Raman
KUCHING: Five new meet records, including three in athletics, were set at the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) yesterday.
Sprint queen Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohamad Rizal of Selangor became a double gold medallist and double record holder when she won the 200-metre (m) final at the Sarawak Stadium here in 23.89 seconds (s), erasing the previous Games mark of 24.37s set by Perak’s Noor Eewan Syafiah Mohd Sabri in the 2016 edition at the same venue.
On Monday, the 20-year-old snatched the 100m gold in 11.64s, eclipsing the 16-year-old Games mark of 11.82s set by Johor’s Siti Fatima Mohamad at the 2008 SUKMA in Terengganu.
Johor’s quartet of national 400m record holder Umar Osman, Muhammad Aiman Najmi Mohd Anuar, Mohamad Akmal Haziq Mohd Zahari and Wills Harnessy Gindal also broke the men’s 4x400m Games record after clocking 3:12.35s
Penang’s Wilson Quaik Zhen Han obliterated the Games decathlon record after accumulating 6,690 points to improve on the old mark of 6,108 points set by Mohammad Luqman Mohammad Zuki of Kedah in the 2016 edition here.
However, after two days of the athletics competition, no national record has been broken yet.
Meanwhile, national swimmer Bryan Leong Xin Ren bettered the men’s 50m butterfly record twice at the Pandelela Rinong Aquatic Centre for the gold medal.
Bryan clocked 24.81s in the third heat to break the 10-year-old SUKMA record of 25.13s set by Chan Jie. Then, in the final he clocked an even faster time of 24.46s.
Hii Puong Wei of Sarawak, meanwhile, broke the men’s 200m backstroke Games record after clocking 2:06.59s for the gold medal.
In muay thai, Sarawak’s 16-year-old Muhammad Mikail Ghazali Zulfikar upheld his family’s golden legacy by clinching the gold in the 51-54 kilogramme (kg) category.
In the 2022 KL edition, his brothers Mohammad Johan Ghazali, popularly known as Jojo, won the 60-63.5kg category while Muhammad Elias Ghazali clinched the over 63.5kg category.
With nearly half (242) of the 488 gold medals given out, Sarawak continued to be perched atop the medal standings with 48 golds, 28 silvers and 38 bronzes, followed by Federal Territories (36-33-46) and Terengganu (23-21-22).
A total of 48 gold medals will be at stake today, with 11 in aquatics (swimming eight, diving three) and eight in track and field. – BERNAMA
