PEKAN, September 8 – Pahang paddler Mohd Adib Kamaruzrizan maintained his status as the leader of the men’s TK1 national category after winning Stage 2 of the Pahang Ocean Paddle International Challenge 2022 (POPIC 2022) at Pantai Lagenda here on Thursday.
In the 14 kilometer race, Adib recorded a total time of 1 hour 28 minutes 06.03 seconds leaving behind his two closest challengers – Daing Sulaiman Daing Suhaimi (1:29:50.58s) and Freddy Anggang (1:30:01.36s).
“First of all, thank God for today’s victory. Compare to stage 1 yesterday, the challenge in today’s stage 2 race is more of a long distance. Yesterday, the challenge was more of waves.
“Secondly, although I managed to maintain the leading position after two stages, I still could not feel comfortable. Maybe there is a bigger challenge awaits me in the remaining three races,” Adib said.
The experienced pair representing Pahang, Ahmad Azfaruddin Lukman-Imam Sujadi Satta also maintained their position as leaders when they topped the men’s K2 category with a time of 1:43:49.23s.
The second podium belongs to Pahang’s representative, David Bong Xia Shing-Aderian Adek who recorded a time of 1:44:30.15s while Terengganu rower Muhammad Adhwa-Danish Lukman was in third place with a record of 1:45:45.27s.
The pair of siblings from Terengganu, Norazita-Nursaibah Syahida Ibrahim continued to prove their strength when they captured the women’s K2 category chart when they emerged as champions with a time of 1:31:28.12s.
“We will try to maintain our position as the leader in the remaining three stages. So what is most important, we have to remain with high stamina because the challenges of each stage are different,” said Norazita.
The sibling duo representing Outdoor Addict, Dayang Nur Sakinah-Dayang Nur Hanisah Awang Ali took second place when they recorded 1:36:09.33s while Siti Normah Abdul Rahman/Mustika Ayuni Mustofa came in third with a record of 1:39:06.15s.
For the men’s inter-varsity category, the champion status belongs to Tuan Muhamad Hidzam Tuan Dolah-Mohd Azman Ibrahim (UNISZA); runner-up Muhammad Farhan Haqimi Abdul Latiff-Mohamad Faiz Rosdin (UTHM) and third place winner Mohamad Izzat-Muhammad Hafizi (UNISZA).
For the women’s inter-varsity category, UTHM representative Alya Athirah Shaharaziz-Nur Aleya Nafisha Norhanafi emerged as the champion followed by Nur Amira Syafiqah Rosli-Ain Syuhadah Zulkifli (UTHM) and Yusriyah Athirah Yusof-Nor Natasha Mohd Yusuf (Outdoor Edit UPSI).
The POPIC 2022 highlight for the international category once again saw former world champions Dawid Mocke and Danielle McKenzie defend their position as leaders when they won the men’s and women’s competitions respectively.
After the end of the two stages each at Pantai Hiburan, Kuala Rompin and Pantai Lagenda, three more stages of the POPIC 2022 race – the first-ever international canoe championship held in Pahang will be held in Kuantan.
Balok Beach is the location of Stage 3 on Friday followed by Stage 4 at Cherating Beach (Saturday) and Stage 5 at Teluk Cempedak Beach (Sunday).
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