SHAH ALAM, Aug 20 - Selangor continue to astonish at SUKMA, with the contingent’s current medal tally at 114, putting them at the top of the leaderboard after winning 42 gold, 42 silver and 30 bronze.
Hosts Selangor successfully defended their SUKMA women’s team badminton gold medal after outclassing Penang 3-0 at the Setia City Convention Centre in Setia Alam here today.
First singles player Eng Ler Qi got the ball rolling for Selangor by taking 33 minutes to dispose of Penang’s Oo Shan Zi 21-14, 21-10, before doubles pair Clarissa San-Wong Zi Yi then put Selangor in the driver’s seat despite taking 70 minutes to down Joinne Lee-Nicole Tan Pei En 27-25, 14-21, 21-16.
Second singles player and debutante Carine Tee Xin Qi wrapped up the tie with a commanding performance to trounce Chong Shi Ming 21-14, 21-16.
The aquatics camp meanwhile bagged medal after medal today in one of the tournament’s best showings so far, including in springboard diving and swimming medley relay.
Selangor swimmer Shannon Tan Yang-Qing took gold in the SUKMA women’s individual 200m medley at Selangor Aquatic here, clocking 2:21.68s.
She beat out Penang’s Aw Yuet Ting, who took silver, and Melaka’s Lai Wen An, who took bronze.
Muhamad Haziq Muizzudin Mohd Asri and Muhamad Arfa Zikry Muhamad then clinched silver in the SUKMA men’s 10m synchronised platform event.
The pair amassed 305.28 points, finishing in second place after a fierce battle against Sarawak’s Jared Aiden Harold and Elvis Priestley.
Selangor divers Uzlifatil Jannah Ashraf and Muhammad Aeriel Riezqi Abdullah then took bronze in the mixed synchronised 3m springboard event.
The duo, aged 14 and 17, accumulated 216.36 points to finish in third, trailing by 18.96 points behind Sarawak’s pair, who took first place with 235.32 points.
Uzlifatil then went on to take gold in the women’s 1m springboard event.
The 17-year-old diver collected 216.30 points in five dives to secure the win for the Selangor contingent.
The star of the day, swimmer Eliza Tan Ai Shen, turned heads when she broke the national and championship records on her way to gold in the women’s 100m freestyle.
She finished the race in just 56.78s, smashing the championship record of 58.10s and national record of 57.11s for the event.
She previously broke the championship record with a time of 57.03s during qualifiers.
Teammate Daniel Scott Williams then took gold in the SUKMA men’s 200m backstroke.
He clocked 2:7.81s, taking another gold after his first-place finish yesterday in the men’s 50m backstroke.
Eliza, Daniel and Shannon then joined teammate Cayden Gooi to bag gold in the SUKMA mixed 4x100m medley relay, clocking 4:00.35s to emerge champions, 4.20s ahead of Penang’s silver quartet.
Meanwhile, Aslan Adnan and Goh Li Hen took silver and bronze in the SUKMA men’s 200m individual medley.
The pair finished in 2:9.07s and 2:9.66s, respectively, behind Penang’s Elson Lee Chun Hong’s 2:07.57s.
Over in Sunway Megalanes in Petaling Jaya, Selangor’s women’s bowling trio were right on the mark when they knocked down 3,560 pins to clinch gold.
Qurratu’ Ain Izdihar Mohd Pozi, Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee and Adania Mohd Redzwan beat Kedah (3,516 pinfalls) and Sarawak (3,449 pinfalls) to finish at the top of the podium.
And at INSPEN Stadium in Kajang, Muhammad Irfan Mohd Kusyairi brought smiles to the Selangor archery camp with his silver in the SUKMA men’s individual recurve event.
The bowman did his best but fell short of Sabah’s Evan Rich Chong 7-1.
“Thank God, I earned a medal, because I didn’t expect to win a medal in this SUKMA.
“I was sad to see my teammates miss their chance at a medal, so this medal is for them all,” he told Media Selangor.
Selangor also defended their SUKMA men’s futsal gold after defeating Penang 4-1 in the final at the Youth and Sports Complex in Section 21 here tonight.
Selangor are aiming to win 80 gold medals in the 22nd SUKMA, which they are hosting again for the first time since 1998.