Eugenius Lo, Azreen Nabila crowned sportsman, sportswoman of Sukma Perak

IPOH,  Sept 22  (Bernama) -- Sabah archer Eugenius Lo Foh Soon and sprint queen Azreen Nabila Alias from Terengganu were respectively named the sportsman and sportswoman of the 19th Malaysia Games (Sukma) here tonight.

Both received their trophies from Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at the closing ceremony of the Games held at the Perak Stadium, here.

Eugenius Lo, 17, from Kota Kinabalu won four gold and one silver medal, notching a perfect score of 360 in the men’s 30m compound event, last achieved by M.Khambeswaran from Penang in the 18th Sukma Games in Sarawak

Eugenius also set new Sukma records for the men’s 70m and 50m compound events.

The Kota Kinabalu High School student said he never thought he would be named sportsman as he was still so young and felt that there were many other athletes who excelled in their respective sports at Sukma this time.

"I'm still surprised with this award. I never thought I would be named Sportsman. I dedicate this award to the state of Sabah, my coach and the Sabah archery team as well as my family members who have supported me all this while.

"I began dabbling in archery when I was 12. My uncle (Gabriel Liew) is my coach. He introduced this sport to me. The Sukma Games in Sarawak two years ago was my first, and I only contributed a silver medal in the men's team compound event then," he told Bernama.

Eugenius also aspires to join the national archery squad and achieve greater success for Sabah and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Azreen Nabila, a top national athlete picked up three gold medals, in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m events respectively.

Azreen Nabila also broke the 10-year-old Sukma record in the 100m event held by Johor athlete Siti Fatimah Ahmad which was 11.82s, by 0.01 seconds.

“Alhamdullilah, I am grateful for the success here. I certainly was not expecting this. I dedicate this award to my late father (Alias Che Ngah). He only managed to watch me participate in Sukma Perlis (in 2014).

"At that time, I did not achieve anything to make him proud. If my dad was still alive, he would have certainly been happy. This victory is also for my mother Khadijah Ali," she said.

Azreen Nabila said her success here had motivated her to do even better, especially at the SEA Games in the Philippines next year.

-- BERNAMA