KOTA KINABALU: National hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian who was crowned Sabah sportsman for 2017/2018 last night, sees the award as a booster to defend his gold medal in the upcoming SEA Games in the Philippines at the end of next month.
This is the second time the 110-metre field athlete, who broke the 23-year-old national record for the event in the Kurpfalz Gala Championship in Germany in 2017, with a time of 13.67s, is a recipient of the award, the first being in 2007. The Keningau-born athlete said he did not expected to win the prestigious award at the State Sports Awards as other finalists had also recorded outstanding achievements.
“My full focus now is to defend my gold medal, and I will do my best to defend it,” he told reporters after receiving a trophy from the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Juhar Mahiruddin Tuesday night.
According to Rayzam Shah, he will leave for Manila tomorrow for the final preparations.
He also won the gold in the same event at 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur respectively.
Meanwhile, at the same event, national archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh bagged the Sabah sportswoman award for the third consecutive year.
Fatin Nurfatehah, who just received her Sports Science master’s degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia last month said her 2017 achievements — two golds and one silver, was probably why she got the award. – Bernama
