UniMAP Defends Champ Title For The 10TH Time In A Row

Tanjung Malim, 6 Aug  - Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) contingent emerged as a champion at the Malaysian Universities Staff Sports Games (SUKUM 2017) that held at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) here yesterday.

In the sports event which began on July 29, the UniMAP contingent as the defending champion since 2008 has won 21 gold medals, 12 silver medals and seven bronze medals beats the closest challenger, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in the second place and event host, UPSI in the third place.

Head of the UniMAP Contingent, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd. Fo'ad Sakdan said the athletics team continued to excel and helped the contingent to secure the championship when they contributed 15 gold medals, thus enabled UniMAP to maintain the status as the strongest athletics team among Malaysian Public Universities for the 10th consecutive year since 2008.

According to Mohd. Fo'ad who is also UniMAP Deputy Vice Chancellor (Student Affairs & Alumni), UniMAP also won six other gold medals through the individual and team (trio) petanque which contributed two gold medals. Also, the men's tenpin bowling and volleyball, as well as women's futsal and VIP cycling, each won gold medals.

"To win a championship is not difficult, but to maintain the championship for a decade, it requires strong commitment and teamwork from all parties including university management, sports center and athletes in general.

"Alhamdulillah, with the continued commitment from the university management, UniMAP continues to dominate the SUKUM for the tenth consecutive time," he said in a statement, today.

SUKUM 2017 was participated by 21 teams comprising of all the Public Universities in Malaysia as well as a team from the Ministry of Higher Education with 21 sports contested in the event.

Athletics events offered the highest gold medals, which were 44 out of 111 medals. Meanwhile, the closing ceremony was officiated by the UPSI Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dato 'Dr. Mohd. Shatar Shabran.

According to Mohd. Fo'ad, an open medals tally system which was implemented by this year’s event host, UPSI, helped UniMAP to achieve the overall championship of SUKUM for the 10th time.

He added, before, the championship was based on the winning the contested events, but this year, UPSI created a variation by applying the medal count as the championship determination.

For sports events, Mohd. Fo'ad said, as predicted, UniMAP won four gold medals in the 100 meters and 200 meters sprint events for senior men’s and women’s category through UniMAP athletes, Mohd. Helmi Awang and Nurhaslinda Md. Hussin. Furthermore, Dr. Shuhaida Yahud won a gold medal for veteran women’s 100 meters category.

Mohd. Helmi also said that he helped the senior men’s 4x100 meters and 4x400 meters category which contributed two more gold medals for the UniMAP contingent. Moreover, the team consists of three former elite athletes, Mohd. Robani Hassan, Muhammad Idris Zakaria and Mohamad Baihaqi Razlan.

"Also contributed to the gold medals for the UniMAP contingent were the senior women's 4x100 meters relay category, senior women’s 800 and 1500 meters category, senior men’s and women’s 400 meters category, senior men’s shot put, senior men’s discus and senior men's long jump," he said.