KUALA LUMPUR – National cyclist Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang and world No. 4 shuttler Lee Zii Jia are among the contenders to win the Best Athlete Award at the Sportswriters’ Association of Malaysia (SAM) 100Plus Unity 2020/2021 Awards tomorrow.
Dubbed the “Pocket Rocketman”, Azizulhasni will be gunning for his fourth Best Athlete Award after winning it in 2009, 2017 and 2019 respectively.
If the two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist secures the award, it would make him the recipient who has won the award the highest number of times.
Hailing from Dungun, Terengganu, the 34-year-old made the nation proud when he won silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the keirin event, improving on his bronze medal from the 2016 edition held in Rio de Janeiro in the same event.
Meanwhile, Azizulhasni will have the country’s leading men’s singles badminton player Zii Jia on his tail for the prestigious award.
Zii Jia made his mark on the international stage last year when he defeated top-seeded shuttler Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 30-29, 20-22, 21-9 in the final of the All England Championships.
The success ended the nation’s three-year wait for an All-England champion as Datuk Lee Chong Wei was the last Malaysian to win the tournament in 2017.
The Kedahan also helped the national men’s badminton team emerge as runners-up at the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Manila after losing to Indonesia 1-3 in the final.
He also helped the national squad get third place at the 2021 Sudirman Cup by contributing one point when they lost 1-3 to Japan in the semi-finals in Vantaa, Finland.
The fight for the Best Athlete Award this year will also be fiercely contested by other national athletes such newly crowned men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, diving queen Datuk Pandelela Rinong and Muay Thai athlete Rifdean Masdor.
At the same time, 2019 Best Para Athlete Bonnie Bunyau Gustin is in the running to win a second consecutive award.
The 23-year-old from Sarawak created a sensation when he gave Malaysia its first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 72kg category, while breaking the Paralympic record previously held by Iraq’s Rasool Mohsin in 2016 of 227kg by lifting 228kg in his third attempt.
He continued to uplift Malaysia’s name in the eyes of the world by breaking the world record with a lift of 230kg at the 11th Fazza Dubai Powerlifting World Cup, breaking the previous record set by Iranian athlete Roohallah Rostami of 229kg at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018.
Bonnie also won gold at the World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Bangkok, Thailand as well as the World Para Powerlifting Championship in Tbilisi, Georgia last year.
Also listed in the running for the Best Para Athlete Award are Tokyo Paralympic Games badminton gold medallist Cheah Liek Hou, long-jump athlete Datuk Abdul Latif Romly and national boccia player Chew Wei Lun.
The winners of both these awards will receive a cash prize of RM10,000 and a trophy.
Besides the Best Athlete and Best Para Athlete Award, SAM has also introduced two new categories under the Unity Award in collaboration with the National Unity Ministry.
The late Datuk Sieh Kok Chi and Datuk Seri Zolkples Embong have been picked as posthumous recipients of the Special Award this year. – The Vibes, September 5, 2022
Previous SAM Best Athlete Award winners
1995 - Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (Badminton)
1996 - Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (Badminton)
1997 - Nurul Huda Baharin (Shooting)
1998 - Lim Keng Liat (Swimming)
1999-2001 – No recipients
2002 - Lim Keng Liat (Swimming)
2003 - Lim Keng Liat (Swimming)
2004 - Bryan Nickson Lomas (Diving)
2005 - Nicol Ann David (Squash)
2006 - Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (Badminton)
2007 - Wong Mew Choo (Badminton)
2008 - Lee Chong Wei (Badminton)
2009 - Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Cycling)
2010 - Pandelela Rinong (Diving)
2011 - Nur Suryani Taibi (Shooting)
2012 - Pandelela Rinong (Diving)
2013 - Sazali Samad (Bodybuilding)
2014 - Nicol Ann David (Squash)
2015 - Pandelela Rinong (Diving)
2016 - Lee Chong Wei (Badminton)
2017 - Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Cycling)
2018 - Muhammad Rafiq Ismail (Bowling)
2019 - Mohd Azizulhasni Awang (Cycling)
Previous SAM Best Para Athlete Award winners
2016 - Mohamad Ridzuan Mohd Puzi (Athletics)
2017 - Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli (Athletics)
2018 - Mohamad Ridzuan Mohd Puzi (Athletics)
2019 - Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (Powerlifting)
