18 Dec Northern Zone victorious in Sukan Sarawak (SukSar) 2017
KUCHING – The Northern Zone contingent emerged victorious and was crowned as overall champion in Sukan Sarawak (SukSar) 2017 which ended on December 17.
The contingent also created history of its own after having surpassed their initial 31-gold target to defeat the other contenders with a gold medal haul of 78 and their athletes who came from Limbang, Miri, Bintulu bagged a total of 174 medals including 59 silver and 37 bronze.
Finishing in second placing was Southern Zone which was represented by athletes from Kuching, Samarahan, Serian with 68 gold, 54 silver and 49 bronze medals while the Central Zone (Kapit, Sibu, Mukah) came in third with 23 gold, 46 silver and 51 bronze medals. The Western Zone (Sarikei, Betong, Sri Aman) finished fourth with 16 gold, 20 silver and 24 bronze medals.
Northern Zone contingent chef-de-mission, Muhamad Yakup Kari who is also Resident of Bintulu together with all of his athletes w in a buoyant mood when he congratulated his athletes and coaches.
“If our current sport facilities can be upgraded and improved we believe and are confident that we might be able to grab more medals and more potential athletes could be produced to compete in the second SukSar 2019 in Miri,” said Yakup who is also the Resident of Bintulu.
The weightlifting event had contributed the most gold medals for the Northern Zone with 24 followed by athletics with 18, karate (7), muaythai (6), archery (6), judo (4), athletics (para) 4, swimming (para) 3, swimming (2) and a gold each from handball, petanque, badminton and sepak takraw.
The contingent’s archery athlete, Ting Kee Wei contributed another fine feather to the cap after he received SukSar 2017 Most Promising Male Athlete Award.
The other three most promising awards were won by athletes from Southern Zone: swimmer Tan Tyng, male para swimmer Kho Zen Wei and female Para track & field athlete, Nur Farhani Kudus.
The official closing and prize presentation ceremony of SukSar 2017 was held at Stadium Perpaduan Negeri Sarawak in Petra Jaya and was graced by Minister of Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah who accompanied by Also present at the closing ceremony were Datu Ik Pahon Joyik, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak who represented Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports Minister, YB Datuk Snowdan Lawan and Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ong Kong Swee.