Skip to main content

44-year-old Sazali grabs eighth Mr Asia title in Guangzhou

PETALING JAYA: Age is just a number for Sazali Samad who continues to stamp his mark as one of the best bodybuilders in Asia.

Sazali, who turns 45 on Oct 8, gave himself an early birthday present by flexing his way to a record eighth Mr Asia title at the Asian bodybuilding and physique championships in Guangzhou on Sunday.

Sazali came out tops in the below 70kg (lightweight) category final at the Tianhe Sports Centre to regain the title he last won in the 2010 edition in Teheran.

Sazali was top ranked in pre-judging and maintained the form in the final to finish ahead of Iranian Yousef Karimi while Vietnam’s Nguyen Hai Au took the bronze.

Sazali is on record as the most successful bodybuilder Malaysia has produced. He won his first Mr Asia title in 1996 in the bantamweight category and followed up with triumphs in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2009 and 2010.

The previous most decorated Malaysian bodybuilder at Asian level was Datuk Malek Noor, who was a six-time winner in the heavyweight category.

“I wanted to regain the Asian title I lost last year and continued training although I was fasting last month. It’s more of a challenge as I get older but I just try harder.

“It’s great to win here as bodybuilding wasn’t in the programme at the last Asian Games which China hosted.

“This year has been good for me as I was also promoted to sub-inspector in the police force,” the two-time National Sportsman of the Year said from Guangzhou.

The southern Chinese city hosted the Asian Games in 2010 and Sazali would have been a good bet for a medal as he had won the silver in Doha four years earlier.

Sazali’s triumph is certainly a welcome boost to his hopes of making a successful title defence in the world championships in Bangkok from Dec 5-10.

He will be going for his eighth world title, having claimed his first in the 65kg category (bantamweight) in Malacca in 2000, followed by wins in Moscow (2004) and Ostrava, Czech Republic (2006).

Sazali moved up to the 70kg category in 2007 and was on top again in Jeju, South Korea (2007), Dubai (2009), Varanasi, India (2010) and Malacca (2011).

At the Asian championships in Guangzhou, Malaysia also bagged a silver through Mohd Shahrul Azman Mahen in the men’s physique 170cm category and a bronze from Badrulshah Baharuddin in the below 75kg category.

Buda Anchah and Mark Allan Magindol were placed fourth in the below 65kg and 85kg respectively.

Two other Malaysians – Aloysius Jaimon and Ismadi Riji – did not make the finals in their respective 80kg and 100kg categories.

The Star

Labels:
Location: Bukit Jalil, Bukit Jalil

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...
Post a Comment
Read more

KBS realistik

TERUJA...Shabery (dua dari kanan) melancarkan Logo Tahun Industri Sukan 2011-2012 di Casa 1, MSN, semalam.    KETIKA beberapa sukan utama diletakkan sasaran meraih pingat khususnya emas di Sukan Olimpik 2012 London, penyertaan bola sepak dan hoki sebagai keluarga baru program Road To London pula dilihat sekadar membantu mereka melepasi kelayakan. Mungkin bersikap lebih realistik dengan keupayaan kedua-dua sukan itu di pentas lebih tinggi, Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek mahu segala bantuan diberikan kepada sejumlah 50 pemain bola sepak dan hoki kebangsaan bagi membolehkan mereka tersenarai sebagai kontinjen ke London. “Bagi acara hoki dan bola sepak, kita tidak boleh melihat bantuan perlu diberi selepas mereka layak tetapi kita akan cuba bantu mereka supaya mereka layak. “Tiada kompromi terhadap misi mendapatkan emas pertama tetapi sasaran kita tahun ini ialah mendapatkan seberapa ramai atlet ke Sukan Olimpik,” katanya selepas mempen...
Post a Comment
Read more