DIVING queens Pandalela Rinong and Cheong Jun Hoong have emerged as among the front-runners to clinch the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) 100PLUS Best Athlete 2018 Award scheduled here next month.
Both Pandalela and Cheong were nominated for the prestigious award along with four other world-class athletes from bowling, rhythmic gymnastics, track cycling and pencak silat.
The awards ceremony will take place on April 10.
This year’s Award will indeed be special as it will be held in conjunction with SAM’s golden jubilee celebration. SAM was officially established in 1969.
The other athletes in the running for the award include young bowling star Muhd Rafiq Ismail, gymnast Amy Kwan Dick Weng, track cycling ace Azizulhasni Awang and silat exponent Mohd Hazim Amzad.
Pandalela and Cheong will be banking on their gold medal feat in the women’s 10m platform synchro event at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Adding to that, the duo won four medals throughout their 2018 World Diving Series campaign, clinching the gold medal in Canada, silver in China and two bronze medals in Japan.
Meanwhile, Muhd Rafiq Ismail is also in contention for the top prize following his excellent achievement last year which include winning the gold medal in the Men’s Masters category, followed by a silver in the men’s trio (with Ahmad Muaz Mohd Fishol and Timmy Tan) in last year’s Asian Games. Rafiq’s fine run continued at the 2018 Men’s World Bowling Championship taking home the winner’s title in Hong Kong.
Four notable Para athletes will be squaring against each other for the Best Para Athlete Award with long jumper Abdul Latiff Romly, sprinter Mohd Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi and shot putter Muhd Ziyad Zolkefli all standing a good chance.
Powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Anak Gustin makes up the four contenders for the Award.
Muhammad Ziyad won the F20 category in the last Asian Para Games in Jakarta while Abdul Latiff came out tops after rewriting the T20 world long jump record with a distance of 7.64m.
Sprinter Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Puzi will also be among the top contenders following his three gold medal feat and two new records set in the 2018 Asian Para Games.
Ridzuan Puzi clinched the gold medal in the T36 100m, setting a new world record of 11.87s which smashed the old record of 11.90s held by Russian Evgenii Shvetcov at the World IPC Championships in Lyon in 2013.
Ridzuan is also the new Asian Para Games record holder in the T36 long jump event after leaping to a distance of 5.59m to erase the old record of 5.54m by China’s Yang Yi Fei in 2016.
Ridzuan completed his golden feat with another gold medal in the T36 400m race which eventually earned him the Best Asian Male Para Athlete 2018 award.
Winners of both the Best Athlete and Best Para Athlete award will each receive RM10,000 and a trophy.
The Best Team 2018 will also be announced while a Special Lifetime Award will be awarded to SAM’s Royal Patron, His Royal Highness Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Abu Bakar Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mu’adzam Shah as recognition to the Sultan’s vast contribution to sports, especially in football.
The contribution of the country’s sports journalists and reporters will also be recognised where a total RM 50,000 has been allocated for winners in this year’s award.
Awards for sports reporting will be given away in six categories, namely: Best Report (Print), Best Report (Electronic Media), Best Analysis (Print), Best Analysis (Electronic Media), Best Special Report (Open) and Best Sports Photography.
The overall winner for the sports journalism category takes home the Siebel Award, RM7,000 prize money and a trophy.
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah and Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Binti Al-Marhum Al-Mutawakkil Alalallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj will grace the Awards ceremony.
His Majesty is known for his active involvement in the local and international sporting scenes and has contributed immensely to the development and progress of Malaysian sports.
SAM President Jasni Shafie said the King’s attendance would certainly spur the spirit of athletes and the sporting fraternity in general. “This is proof of His Majesty’s keen interest in sports and indeed, a huge recognition to SAM as the only body which represents the interests of sports journalists in the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, title sponsor 100PLUS, the country no.1 isotonic drink, expressed continuous support and remain a partner of the SAM Award.
“We’re honoured and proud to be part of the 100PLUS-SAM Award. It’s even more meaningful this year as SAM is celebrating its 50th Golden Jubilee as well as the special attendance by the Yang DiPertuan Agong who is considered as the country’s number one sports fan,” said Graham Lim, F&N Beverages Marketing Sdn Bhd Marketing Director.
As a show of gratitude and appreciation to Malaysians for their continuous support towards 100PLUS, the country’s leading isotonic drink brand, in collaboration with SAM, will present a special 100PLUS Special Supporter Award.
Malaysians and sports fans are invited to be part of the jury to decide on the winners of this special award whereby a total of 15 individual athletes and teams with great achievement in 2018 have been nominated.
Fans need to visit 100PLUS facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/my100plus/ to cast their votes and decide on the winners.
SAM BEST ATHLETES (since 1995)
1995 – Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (badminton)
1996 – Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (badminton)
1997 – Nurul Huda Baharin (shooting)
1998 – Lim KengLiat (swimming)
1999-2001 – No Awards
2002 – Lim Keng Liat (Swimming) and S.Premila (Karate-do)
2003 – Lim Keng Liat (swimming)
2004 – Bryan Nickson Lomas (diving)
2005 – Nicol Ann David (squash)
2006 – Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (badminton)
2007 – Wong Mew Choo (badminton)
2008 – Lee Chong Wei (badminton)
2009 – Mohd Azizul Hasni Awang (cycling)
2010 – Pandelela Rinong (diving)
2011 – Nur Suryani Taibi (shooting)
2012 – Pandelela Rinong (diving)
2013 – Sazali Samad (bodybuilding)
2014 – Nicol Ann David (squash)
2015 – Pandelela Rinong (diving)
2016 – Lee Chong Wei (badminton)
2017 – Mohd Azizul Hasni Awang (track cycling)
SAM BEST PARA ATHLETES:
2016 – Mohd Ridzuan Mohd Puzi (athletics)
2017 – Muhd Ziyad Zolkefli (athletics)
