IPOH, Sep 22 — The closing ceremony of the 19th Malaysian Games (Sukma) was held in a spectacular way at the Perak Stadium here today.
Colourful musical firework show was displayed at the ceremony, which was attended by some 25,000 people.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who officiated the ceremony, said that the games is close to her heart as it was first suggested by her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1983, when he was the Youth and Sports Minister.
“He believed that organising the games would upgrade the sport officials and improve the sports facilities.
“Now we have all the sports facilities which are equal to international standards and there is no reason we can’t produce better athletes who can prevail in Southeast Asia, Asia and even in the world,” she said in her speech.
Wan Azizah also congratulated all the participating contingents and urged them to use the valuable experience they gained in the games to lift their spirits in achieving better place in the future.
Also present at the event was Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, Perak Mentri Besar Ahmad Faizal Azumu and State Youth and Sports executive committee chairman Howard Lee Chuan How.
The ceremony started with the singing of the National and State anthems, followed by the march past of the participating contingents.
Sabah’s archer Eugenius Lo Foh Soon was crowned as the best sportsman of the edition while Terengganu sprinter Azreen Nabila Alias named as the best sportswoman.
Lo won three gold medals in 70m, 50m and 30m individual compound events and one silver in group compound event.
The 17-year-old broke the national record in the 30m individual compound held by Penang’s Khambeswaran in Sarawak two years ago. He also broke another two Sukma record in the 70m and 50m individual compound events.
While, Azreen won three gold medals in women’s 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay. The 18-year-old broke the 10-year-old Sukma record held by Johor’s Siti Fatima in 100m by clocking 11.81s.
The ceremony also saw the Sukma’s flag and torch being taken down and Wan Azizah handed over Sukma flag to Johor’s Mentri Besar Osman Sapian as the state would be hosting the 20th edition of the games in 2020.
The event was concluded with Terengganu emerging as the overall champion with 56 gold medals. They also nabbed 51 silver medals and 53 bronze medals.
Federal Territory took the second place with 52 gold medals, 38 silver medals and 50 bronze medals, whilst Selangor settled for the third place with 47 gold medals.
Meanwhile, the host Perak, which targeted 50 gold medals, only able to reach 37 gold medals.
The pre-event kick-starts as early as 5pm with a number of musical performances displayed by local artist such as Santesh Kumar from Psychounit, Foo Dong Yi, The Times, White Unit Percussion and many more.
The visitors were also entertained with acrobatic performance by the Royal Malaysian Navy and also cultural percussion performance involving Malays, Indians, Chinese, Orang Asli and people from Sabah and Sarawak.
