BATANG AI (Lubok Antu): South African cyclist Jacobus Gerstner of Team Giant Kuching, emerged as the champion in the Men’s Open (Sarawak Closed) category of the Sarawak Energy Batang Ai Mountain Bike Jamboree 2017, here, yesterday.
The 20-year-old Jacobus finished the race in a time of 2 hours and 18 minutes.
“It was a very tough competition but overall I enjoyed it very much as the track is well maintained and well-mapped,” said Jacobus who has been active in the sport for the past 11 years.
“My plan is to participate again next year!” added the enthusiastic cyclist who is currently studying International Business in Swinburne University Sarawak and will be residing in the state for another two years.
Charles Kin Diking who finished in a time of 2 hours 23 minutes and Laurel Laurdsen Adrian (2h:29mins) in the second and third place respectively.
Jacobus brought home a cash prize of RM1,500 plus complementary trophy while Charles and Laurel took home RM1,000 and RM600 plus complementary trophies each respectively.
In the Women’s Open (Sarawak Closed) category, national cyclist, Nur Azrenna Ahmad was named the champion as she finished in first place, in a time of two hours and five minutes to win the title.
“The track is quite technical because it requires a lot of climbing. My target was to win and hence I am satisfied on what I have achieved today,” said Azrenna who added that it was her first participation in the race organised by the Sarawak Energy.
The Corbusier Club’s cyclist Azrenna also stated that she will be participating in Sukan Malaysia (SUKMA) for the last time, in Perak next year.
Other local cyclists Rosmina Minggu and Nik Nadila Nik Idris meanwhile finished in second and third place respectively.
In another Sarawak Closed category, the Men’s Veteran, defending champions Supian Nor clocked a time of 1 hour 36 minutes to win the title.
Osaman Abdul Malik (1hr:45mins) and Hardy Suntol (1hr:47mins) came in second and third place respectively.
For these two categories, each winners won a cash prize of RM1,000 plus a complementary trophy, RM700 plus a complementary trophy and RM400 plus a complementary trophy respectively.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB) the Men’s Category saw Mohd Hishamuddin, Chang Foo Koon and Mohd Firdaus Ghar in the top three finishers.
For SEB Men’s Veteran, the top three cyclists were Brian Giles, Sulaiman Ahmad and Victor Lim while in SEB Women’s Category, Jenny Choo Cheng Yii, Tereasa Janting and Flori Harry topped the list.
All winners for the SEB category brought home a cash prize of RM500 for the first place, RM300 (second place) and RM200 (third place) with complementary trophies each respectively.
