Golden outing

KOTA KINABALU: It was a golden outing for Sabah on day two of the 22nd Milo National Hope Under-10 and Under-13 Table Tennis Championships held at the Maksak Hall in Likas yesterday.

They also won two silver medals – courtesy of Francis Chua and Nurshida Nurdin – and four bronze medals to eventually make it a fruitful day for the hosts.

Suzanitah Jubileh was the toast of the State contingent by winning the gold medal.

Keningau lass Suzanitah won the Perpaduan Girls Under-13 singles after defeating Nurshida in an all-Sabah affair final.

The SK Pasir Puteh, Keningau student notched an 11-8, 4-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, and 11-9 victory over her team-mate.

Earlier in the semis, Suzanitah defeated another of her team-mates Brenie Elley 5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 10-12, 11-9, while Nurshida ousted Johor’s Nor Shahira Najwa Shahbudin 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 and 13-11.

It could have been two gold medals for the hosts, but unfortunately Francis Chua failed to get the better of his final opponent Muhammad Muaz bin Fauzi from Kedah who eventually won the gold with a straight sets 11-6, 11-8, 14-12, and 11-8 victory over Chua.

Enroute to the final Chua scored a straight sets 11-2, 11-9, 11-6, 11-2 victory over Kedah’s Abdul Qayyum bin Hairul Fauzi, while Muhammad defeated Selangor’s Mohd Hasri Fikri 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9.

In the team event, the host team merely managed to win three bronze medals after they failed in their semi-final battles.

In the boy’s Under-10, Sabah lost 3-2 to Kuala Lumpur.

Aaron Tai Jian Bin picked up the first point for Sabah after defeating Low Yang Enn 11-4, 11-9, 11-5.

But Kuala Lumpur levelled the scoreline when Gan Kim Chuan defeated Lim Yi Heng 11-9, 15-13, 11-7, 11-9 in the second singles.

Then Kuala Lumpur took the lead by winning the third singles through Tan Ming Xuan who defeated Gary Chong Rong Sheng 11-5, 11-6, 11-2.

The scoreline was level at two-all after the fourth singles as Aaron won his battle against Gan.

He won in straight sets 13-11, 11-4, 11-4.

But Sabah’s hopes of making it into the final were dashed when Lim Yi Heng lost the deciding match against Low Yang Enn. He lost 6-11, 8-11, 9-11.

With the defeat, Sabah were the joint bronze medal winners together with Negeri Sembilan who lost to Sarawak in the other semi-finals.

The Sabah girls’ Under-10 and 13 teams also faced a similar fate as they also lost their battles.

They lost with identical scorelines of 1-4 to Johor and Perak respectively.

In the Under-10 battle, Sabah’s Connie Leong lost 9-11, 9-11, 2-11 to Tey Ka Ying in the first singles.

Lim Chiew Yee also faced a similar fate as she went down 5-11, 11-9, 15-17, 7-11, 5-11 to Tee Ai Xin.

But Tian Yeck Cheng put Sabah back into the game when she defeated Huan Kit Joo 11-4, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7.

But Tey sealed victory for Kuala Lumpur after defeating Lim Chiew Yee 11-0, 11-1, 11-7. Johor met Sarawak, who defeated Kedah 3-0 in the other semis, in the final.

In the Under-13, Joanne Chin put Sabah into the lead by winning the first singles battle.

She defeated Perak’s Ho Sy Hui 6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

But the scoreline was level at one-all after the second singles as Perak’s Ong Ting Fei defeated Sabah’s Loh Qiao Xin 11-9, 11-4, 12-10.

Then Lee Siu Yin defeated Daneille Chong 11-6, 11-5, 11-7 before Ho sealed the victory by defeating Loh 11-4, 12-10, 11-6 to eventually set a final date against Selangor, who won their semi-final battle against Kuala Lumpur 3-1.

The finals of the team events are still ongoing at press time.

The championship continues today with the individuals events.