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24th July, 2008
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah hulksters will be on a two gold and three bronze medals mission for this weekend’s Mr Malaysia Bodybuilding Championship which will take centre stage in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.
The ambitious Sabah Amateur Bodybuilding Association (SBBA) is pinning its hope on newly crowned Mr Sabah champion Yong Chee Ken and former Mr Asian finalists Henro Lee to achieve its dream.
Its president Datuk Juhar Mahiruddin led the State squad in receiving the state flag from the Youth and Sports Ministry’s permanent secretary Michael Emban, who represented Peter Pang.
Yong Chee Ken will be competing in the middleweight category and is ready to better his silver medal feat when Sabah hosted the championship last year.
As for Henro, the former Mr Malaysia light weight winner is hoping to reclaim the crown he last won in 2001.
Sabah bagged three silver and three bronze medals through Chee Ken, Jumiatus Shamsuddin and Ronnie Blasius contributed silver while Geinod Lozitin, Simbun Daud and Jerome Gundalam won the bronze when they last competed. Except for Jerome and Simbun, the rest of the medalists are in the current squad of eight.
SBBA secretary Joseph Sylvester is among the bodybuilders. Joseph, a former Mr Sabah winner for the heavyweight category from 1998-2001, won a silver in the Mr Malaysia competition in 1993.
He is making a comeback and has been active since last year.
“After my last involvement in the national championship in 1993, I’ve been active as coach until last year when I decided to return to the sport as a competitor. I will do my best but my main aim is the Mr Malaysia championship next year,” Joseph said.
Meanwhile, Juhar believes that they have a decent chance of achieving their target.
“Preparation has been smooth and hopefully our athletes will be able to achieve the target,” he said.
“As for the silver medals, we hope the rest can deliver…if they can achieve better than the silver, it will be a great bonus to all.”
Juhar also said that the hulksters are bearing the cost on their own in training for the early stages. And if there are selected for tournaments such as Mr Sabah and Mr Malaysia, they will receive assistance from the association as well as from sponsors.
Meanwhile, the permanent secretary Emban, said that the ministry is always supportive to any development involving associations like SBBA.
“These include providing facilities and annual grant based on profiles and programmes lined-up by the association.
“Apart from that, the Ministry also provides incentives to athletes who excel in ‘recognised’ tournaments,” said Michael.
On the development of bodybuilding, Michael hoped that the association will expand the sport throughout the State.
“I think SBBA is blessed with a committed president. As the Speaker for the State Assembly, his presence in the team will certainly boost the spirit and confidence of the entire team,” he said.
Also present at the ceremony were Sabah Sports Council (SSC) director Abdul Rahman Laman, deputy Permanent Secretary Penyuki Matta, SBBA officials and some of the bodybuilders.
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