UiTM student comes out top at Samarahan armwrestling meet

KOTA SAMARAHAN (Oct 27) It was a true show of strength at the ‘Over The Top JJPROFLEX 2024 Armwrestling Championship’ here last Saturday, which gathered 48 participants including three women.

Organised by Samarahan Division Armwrestling Association (KSAW) in collaboration with JJPROFLEX Gym, the event staged four categories: Women’s Open, Men’s Novice, Men’s Senior Under-75kg, and Men’s Senior Above-75kg.

In the ‘Champion of Champions’ showdown, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Sarawak student Evan Stanley ‘outflexed’ Harrison Dampol to claim the crown.

Earlier, Evan came out tops in the Under-75kg battle, where Muhammad Faiz Azwar Amree and Alex Eng Connie placed respective runners-up.

Harrison was the Above-75kg winner, with Symson Nador Siming and Ahmad Amir Shaputra Ahmad Shamsudin finishing second and third, respectively.

Muhammad Faiz, however, excelled in the Novice category, beating Syafiq Syahiran Suhaimi and Mohammad Shaifullah Abdullah to claim the win.

In the Women’s Open, the title went to Gan Siew Hua, with Jashira Jebat and Ummi Mumaizzah Sidik placing runners-up.

“Honestly, it was unexpected and I was speechless,” said Evan, 20, who hails from Sibu.

“I was in the Novice category previously, and was pushed to the Senior category for this competition.

“This is my best achievement so far, and I would want to do better in upcoming championships.

“This feat encourages me to keep improving and be ready for the next level,” said the Diploma in Information Management student.

The prizes were presented by KSAW president Jeremiah Rukong.

In his remarks, Jeremiah said the latest meet marked the association’s third armwrestling event under their ‘Over The Top’ series.

“The first was conducted in April 2023, which registered 38 contestants, while the second was staged in July this year, gathering 24 contestants from Kuching, Samarahan and also Sibu.

“The great thing, to me, is that our event has been attracting many young talents, many of whom are newcomers, so it’s very encouraging to see that armwrestling has captured the interest of many youths.

“This is KSAW’s core objective – to identify and encourage armwrestling talents, especially those from around Samarahan Division.

“We are doing this with in collaboration with SASA (Sarawak Armwrestling Association),” he said in a phone interview.

Jeremiah also highlighted KSAW’s goal of welcoming more women to join this sport.

“Just recently, we held a women’s closed competition as one of the activities outlined for National Sports Day 2024, organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS).

“There were 17 women competing. So for us, we continue to encourage women’s participation in this sport,” he added.

For the ‘Over The Top JJPROFLEX 2024 Armwrestling Championship’, SASA president Jacklis Bering came in as the referee, assisted by KSAW vice-president Logan Luta.