TAWAU: Sportsman of the 10th Sabah Games, Akhmal Thaqif Begurdy from Tawau, continued his outstanding performance by clinching three gold medals in cycling events at the 11th Sabah Games (Saga XI).
Akhmal won gold in the Men’s Individual Time Trial, Team Time Trial and 1,000-metre Sprint Time Trial events.
In the 34-kilometre Individual Time Trial category, Akhmal recorded a time of 43 minutes and 54 seconds, beating Keningau cyclist Elvin Jeromey (49 minutes and 9 seconds), while third place went to Tawau’s Muhammad Rayhan Julizwan with a time of 50 minutes.
Akhmal also helped the Tawau team — consisting of Muhammad Rayhan, Rex Pang Lip Hong, Mohamad Adriansyah, Mohamad Iqbal Syahmi Alexander and Muhammad Izzul Qusyairie — secure the gold medal in the 64-kilometre Men’s Team Time Trial with a time of 1 hour, 40 minutes and 10 seconds.
The Keningau team, led by Mohammad Farhan Abdullah, clocked 1 hour and 48 minutes to take silver, while Lahad Datu claimed bronze with a time of 1 hour, 51 minutes and 56 seconds.
In the 1,000-metre Sprint Time Trial, Akhmal once again emerged champion with a time of 56.45 seconds, ahead of Kota Belud cyclists Muhammad Nur Irfan Roslan and Muhamad Fazlansah Fitri Utok, who recorded 58.32 seconds and 1 minute 2 seconds respectively.
Meanwhile, two more gold medals were awarded in the Women’s 500-metre Sprint and Individual Time Trial events.
Tuaran cyclist Evlighta Willborn won the 500-metre Sprint with a time of 41 seconds, followed by Keningau’s Farisha Nor Umaira Zairi (42 seconds) and Kota Kinabalu’s Shannon Liaw Xiao Xuan (42.81 seconds).
In the 20-kilometre Women’s Individual Time Trial, Farisha made a strong comeback to claim gold with a time of 27.52 seconds, ahead of Shannon (28.37 seconds) and Nabawan’s Restyfiona Rizal (28.13 seconds).
The medals were presented by Tawau Municipal Council (MPT) Operations Division Officer Zanariah Ibrahim, who represented President Joseph Pang, at Jalan Persisiran.
A total of nine gold medals are being contested in the Saga XI cycling events, which are scheduled to conclude this Thursday.
Meanwhile in the track and field, Kalabakan athlete Nur Denisha Shazlia Abdullah set a new championship record in the women’s 5,000-metre event, breaking her own previous record.
Nur Denisha clocked 20 minutes 04.43 seconds, surpassing her previous mark of 20 minutes 56.71 seconds, set at Saga 2023.
In the final, she outpaced seven other competitors, with Pitas athlete Efyna Ares Lizod taking the silver medal in 20 minutes 35.56 seconds, while Ranau athlete Chelsie Devina Saravanan claimed bronze.
The 19-year-old runner credited her success to consistent training and careful preparation under the guidance of her coach.
“Although I didn’t beat my personal best, I’m proud to have broken my own championship record.
“I want to thank my coach for his years of guidance and my parents for allowing me to take part in Saga,” she said.
Athletics Technical Delegate Bonne Rudolf said a total of 159 medals are being contested in athletic at the Saga XI Games this year.
Among the events that began Monday were the long jump, high jump, discus throw, 100 metres (men and women) and 400 metres hurdles, which will run for four days from Monday until Thursday at the Tawau Sports Complex Stadium.
