MUKAH: SMK Three Rivers emerged the overall champions of the secondary school category of 8th Sarawak Schools MGTF (Malaysia Global Taekwondo Federation) Taekwondo Championship and 6th Borneo Invitational Event on Sunday.
The Mukah divison’s premier school took the title after collecting 17 gold medals, 15 silvers and 17 bronzes in the two-day championship to lift the Dato Sri Dr Muhammad Leo Toyad Challenge Cup.
SJK© Chong Boon were the overall winners of the primary school category after they secured 8 gold medals, 10 silvers and 17 bronzes.
With the win, the host team lifted the Sarawak Member of Youth Parliament Malaysia Challenge Cup at the open hall of Chong Boon primary school on Sunday.
Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak, Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah gave away the trophies.
Meanwhile, in the Boys Under-17 Team Sparring Category, the winners were Team KNS, with first runners-up went to Team TRS A.
Joint third of were Team TRS B and Team SPS A.
TRS A won the Girls’ Under-17 Team Sparring category, second were First Kick A and joint-third were Team SPS A and Team TRS D.
Tellian State Assemblyman, Yussibnosh Balo gave away the prizes for the sparring category.
Besides Karim, who represented the Chief Minister at the event, present were MGTF President, Dato’ Grandmaster Amir Mohd Noor, Founder MGTF, Dato’ Seri Grandmaster Prof. Dr Mohd Sabree Mohd Salleh, Global Taekwondo Association of Sarawak president, Abang Ahmad Zaini Ahmad Fauzan, heads of department and local community leaders.
At the event, Karim also received the honorary black belt certificate from Sabree and including another on behalf, of the Chief Minister, Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.
Apart from the giving away of the prizes which attracted about 200 taekwondo exponents from Sabah and Sarawak, the final also displayed the energetic performances from the Self-Defence Martial Arts demonstrations (Silat Exponents) and Taekwondo Champions’ Pattern.
In his speech, Karim pointed that the state would continue the intensive effort to regain the State supremacy in the Sukma and considered last year as so close and yet so far.
“We would continue to double our effort to regain the title from next year onwards. We are poised to become the nation’s sports powerhouses and even at the international level. We have some top international athletes, to name a few, Pandelela Renong and Wilson Sim.
“We have started to prepare another international biggest events to be held in the state in 2019 and 2020. Indeed, the state has become one of the major tourism sports in the region.
“Indeed, Mukah is also one of the major producers of Sarawak’s sportsmen and women, especially in volleyball and taekwondo, ” said Karim who later announced a RM20,000 grant for the taekwondo association.
