Joyce gets full government sponsorship
Published on: Friday, February 16, 2024
By: GL Oh
Joyce (left) and Flavia (second left) with the others before their departure to Thailand on Thursday.
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s strongest woman Joyce Heng finally gets to represent Malaysia in an international meet for the first time with full expenses borne by the government.
She and fellow Sabahan Flavia Mannie Luntuk are among the five athletes sponsored by the Youth and Sports Ministry and National Sports Council to take part in the Thailand Strongest Man & Woman competition scheduled to start tomorrow (Saturday) in Pattaya.
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“It was a great relief for me after eight years of competing overseas on my own budget with occasional funds from the State Youth and Sports Ministry.
“The last time I received it was back in 2022 from then Assistant Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy for the competition in Indonesia.
“I have to thank YB Hannah Yeo and the Ministry as well as the National Sports Council for their support in sponsoring us.
“This will be my first competition of the year. I will definitely give my best for the country and hopefully be able to defend my open title won in 2019 as it was not held for the last three years,” she said.
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According to her, she was selected with Flavia to represent the country with full sponsorship along with Nur Aika Farina (Johor), Muhamad Hanzalah Hasran (Selangor) and Hizad Hazalan (Labuan) based on their achievement at the Malaysia’s Strongest Man and Woman Championship held in November last year.
Joyce successfully defended her women’s open title in that meet while Flavia won the strong fit women category.
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Meanwhile, two other athletes Abiramy Divyadarshini A/P Delagan (Selangor) and Choo Kok Wei (Perak) are also included in the team, but on their own expenses as they did not take part in the Malaysia’s Strongest Man and Woman Championship.
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