PENANG’s long wait for an archery gold medal in Sukma is finally over after being in the doldrums for 14 years.
Its women’s compound team, spearheaded by national archer Kayalvhily, captured the gold medal by a mere whisker by scoring 218 points, just one point ahead of runners-up Pahang, at the Universiti Islam Sains Malaysia (USIM) in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.
Johor took the bronze medal by edging Sarawak 224-222.
There was even more cheer for Penang when its judokas grabbed three gold medals today at the UiTM Shah Alam Sports Complex, bringing their gold medal tally to five.
In the archery competition, Kayalvhily, 23, and her teammates – Bernice Goh Rou Pei, 17, Pritiswary Muniswaran, 19, and Nurinsofiya Ahmad Shukor, 21- had a first round bye. They then proceeded to beat Kedah 220-218 in the quarter-finals, Sarawak 226-224 in the semi-finals, and then Pahang 218-217 in the final.
Kayalvhily, who was in an upbeat spirit, collected a silver medal in the women’s compound individual event after being edged out by Nuraqilah Khairul in the final 145-142.
“I feel proud and relieved to achieve the victory together with my teammates, especially Bernice, who is competing in Sukma for the first time.
“This is one of the sweetest moments for all of us as we have been training hard and keeping ourselves motivated for the Games.
“We’ve a very strong rapport. I look forward to more remarkable moments with them,” Kayalvhily said.
Bernice, the new kid on the block, knows she has still much to learn even though she was a member of the gold winning team.
“I really did not expect such joy, especially in making my debut. Thanks to my teammates for motivating me, I am keen to strive for more success,” she said.
Team manager Salina Putriana was full of praise for the Penang team.
“They deserved it after training hard for such a long time. I’m absolutely proud of them,” she said.
Over to the judo competition at UiTM Shah Alam, Penang judokas kept up their winning tempo by bagging 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze medal today.
The golds came from Goh Xuan Le (women’s -52kg), Chuah Siew Imm Venoshaa (-57kg) and Amir Daniel Abdul Majid (-75kg).
Xuan Le lived up to her expectations as the favourite, while Siew Imm and Amir attributed their success to their family’s motivation.
The silver medals were delivered by Ummi Nazeerah Amran (women’s -48kg) and Lim Yi Zheng (men’s -60kg) while the bronze medal was obtained by Me Zheng Shan Nicholas (men’s -66kg).
In the Muay Thai event in South City Plaza, Mohd Shahdam Abdul Aziz won a silver medal for Penang in the 45-48kg category.
Meanwhile, at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam, the Penang football team stayed on course for their first gold in Sukma after defeating Federal Territory (KL) by a narrow 1-0 margin.
Penang will now face Terengganu in the final on Friday while the third spot will be contested by Federal Territory and Selangor.
Story by Edmund Lee
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad