Our Sukma-bound cyclists shine in Selangor meet

aku jumpe kat intenet..hebat jugak.. pencen je lah


Published on: Friday, March 31, 2006
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Kota Kinabalu: Sabah's Sukma-bound cyclists proved they are no pushovers when it comes to mountain bike racing at the recent Selangor Mountain Bike Open (SEMBO) 2006 Championship in Selangor.
The State team powered by eight cyclists, four men and four women, clinched top 10 finishes in the championship that was participated by a total of 251 riders from Sabah, Sarawak, Penang, Kedah, Perak, Pahang, Terengganu, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and two international teams from Singapore and Australia.
An elated Sabah Cycling Association president Raijas Anang said the performance proved that the Sukma trainees are well prepared.
"This outing has given us the confidence that they will do well in the coming biennial games from May 24 to June 4," said Raijas, adding that the State cyclists will again be tested when they compete in the Teluk Danga International Sports Meet in Johor from April 2-10.
"From the championship we will be able to access the riders' individual performance ahead of Sukma," he pointed out.
Meanwhile association secretary Beatrice Lajawa said all Sukma cyclists have shown a marked improvement over the past months.
"I am optimistic that with their strong performance not only in national and international level competition, the State Sukma riders will be able to win medals," she said.
Beatrice who is also the Sukma team manager said the State riders' next meet will be the Kenyir International MTB Challenge in Terengganu from April 28 - 30.
In the recent championship, JR Stanly Jalip won the 1.5 km Downhill Senior Open Category in a time of 2mins 15.57sec beating other Sukma riders from Sarawak Ghazali Hakiki (2min 21.09sec), and Selangor's Hamri Nizam Mustafa (2min 29.18sec) who finished second and third spot respectively.
Brittney Adlynne R. Anang finished fourth in the Women Open 1.5km Downhill Category.
Beatrice said the riders went all out to prove their domination in the cross country event on the second day of the competition.
"Our strong team work in tackling the difficult situations during the race helped them spring surprises which caught others unawares," she pointed out.
In the Women's 10 km Cross Country Category, Laura Avila Adrian finished first in a time of 44min 01sec after team mate Anita Markus was several times blocked by second placed Masziyaton Mohd Radzi from Kedah who finished in a time of 48min 10sec. Anita came in third at 50min 22sec.
In the Cross Country 15km Under 18 Category, Sabah riders once again dominated the event with Lew Tze Siong (53min 52sec) and Niklos Minol (54min 56sec) taking the first two spots respectively. Third placing went to Mohammad Adiq Hussaien Mohd from Terengganu (1hr 4min 27sec).
JR Stanly proved he is still tops in Malaysia by winning the 17.5km Men Open Cross Country Category in a time of 1hr 1min 58sec followed closely by Penang's Seow Hock Cheng in 1hr 2min 56sec while Irie Alixron Pausek won third placing for Sabah in a time of 1hr 3min 40sec.
In the 20km Men Elite Cross Country category Mohd Hafiz Rozli from Pahang won the event in 1hr 14min 40sec followed by JR Stanly Jalip in 1hr 14min 54sec and Mohd Khairul Khadimin from LeTua Cycling Club in 1hr 15min 02 sec.