malaysiangKUCHING, Sarawak’s hopes of emerging as the overall champions of the 2024 Malaysia Games (SUKMA) are under threat from the Federal Territories (FT) as 358 out of the total of 488 gold medals have been given out, so far.
With just two days remaining before the curtain falls on the biennial Games, Sarawak and FT are now separated by only seven gold medals, down from a 10-gold lead yesterday.
The hosts lead the medal standings with 62 golds, 45 silvers and 52 bronzes, followed by FT (55-47-59), Selangor (40-48-35) and Terengganu (34-29-37). Defending champions Johor round out the top five with a haul of 27-31-45.
A clearer picture of the race for overall champions may emerge tomorrow as 82 gold medals will be at stake, including the women’s football final between Sabah and Selangor that was postponed last night due to heavy rain.
That is the largest number of gold medals to be offered on a single day at SUKMA 2024, with the remaining 45 gold medals set to be contested on the final day – Saturday (Aug 24).
The pencak silat competition at the Miri City Stadium will be the centre of attraction as 20 gold medals will be up for grabs in the olahraga (combat) category before the martial arts sport ends.
Meanwhile, the fourth day of the athletics competition saw a new national record set in the men’s 400m hurdles.
National backup runner Muhammad Fakrul Afizul Nasir of Kelantan clocked 51.11 seconds (s) to erase his old mark of 51.26s set last year.
The 51.11s also broke the Games record of 51.79s set by former track ace Mohd Zafril Mohd Zuslaini of Pahang in the 2004 edition in Negeri Sembilan.
The swimming pool continued to produce record-breaking feats, with four new Games records set today – in the men’s 400m freestyle, men’s 100m butterfly, men’s 200m freestyle and men’s 4x200m freestyle.
Johor also ended their 30-year wait for gold in men’s rugby 7s, mauling Terengganu 29-0 in the final at the Miri Stadium.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
