Trio of boxers in spotlight but S’wak miss first spot

KUCHING (Aug 25): Sarawak’s boxers captured four gold, four silver and three bronze medals to emerge as the second best, based on the medal tally, among all states competing in the just concluded Sukma.

It marked an improvement from the 2022 Sukma performance when Sarawak collected two gold, two silver and one bronze medals.

However, Sarawak’s number of gold medals was not enough to surpass Penang which topped the sport with five golds and a bronze. Nevertheless, the home squad can hold their heads high for amassing 11 to Penang’s six medals in total.

A major highlight of boxing in the 21st Sukma was the introduction of events for women. Hamiesha Hamdan made history as the first woman from Sarawak to win a boxing gold medal in the Sukma series. That in itself was a milestone in the annals of boxing in the state.

Sarawak Amateur Boxing Association (SABA) president Dato Rahman Lariwoo expressed his pride and satisfaction with the team’s performance at Sukma XXI despite missing out on securing the top spot overall.

“Some of our boxers who were expected to win gold didn’t but that’s okay. I believe they gave it their all but luck just wasn’t on our side,” he said.

When asked about emerging stars for Sarawak he named Gideon Riquelme Jonathan and Clarkson Evans Tom Frankie as the standout talents.

Gideon topped the men’s middleweight (71-75kg) by defeating FT’s Muhd Ayyub Firdaus while Clarkson lifted the men’s 45-48 kg title after overcoming Kedah’s Thanasekaran Rajendran.

“These two boxers have shown great potential. On behalf of the team, I want to say that we are extremely proud of their achievements. They have proven that they can back up their words with action,” Rahman remarked.