Malaysia’s rising star Theena Thayalan dominated the Penang Pesta International Tournament

The prestigious Penang Pesta International Tournament was bigger than ever this time and finally five nations were able to achieve at least one gold medal. Malaysia’s great future hope Theena Thayalan continued his top performance and bagged a title also in the Penang Pesta International Tournament.
The city of Penang is located in the Northern region of Malaysia and well-known place for the tourists. Malaysia’s main international competition was a great success and it was a strong preparation for the region’s best boxers. The annual Penang Pesta International Tournament was held for elite and youth boxers as well.
Chinese Taipei’s Lin Kun Chieh achieved the first gold medal in the Penang Pesta International Tournament at the youth light flyweight (49kg) following his strong performance against Indonesia’s best boxer in this age group, Wahyu Firmansyah. Lin has been preparing to the qualification events of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games with full speed.
Malaysia’s top youth boxer Amirul Hakim Bin Sakila exceeded the previous expectations and defeated a such strong opponent in the final of the youth flyweight (52kg) as Chinese Taipei’s Chang Li Shen. Indonesia’s first success was achieved by Edward Harefa at the youth bantamweight (56kg) but his compatriot Akbar Gora Satria was also able to beat all of his rivals in Penang.
Thailand also achieved a title in the Penang Pesta Tournament after Inkong’s close success over Chinese Taipei’s Hung Kai Chun. Another top performance in the youth part of the Penang Pesta International Tournament was delivered by Chinese Taipei’s Lo Chien Hsiang who was too strong for Malaysia’s Muhammad Firdaus Alimi in the final.
In the elite part of the Penang Pesta Tournament the first gold medal went to Mohammad Azmi Bin Azhar who claimed a title for host Malaysia at the light flyweight (49kg). Malaysia’s next young talent Mohamed Azlizam Bin Abu Talib found his final easy against Mohamed Syafiq Bin Hassan and celebrated his gold in Penang.
Muhammad Saiful Idham is a promising hope at the bantamweight (56kg) who had all the technique to beat his rival in the Penang Pesta International Tournament achieving Malaysia’s third title in the elite competition. Mohamed Akram Bin Rasit was also good enough in the youth age group as the first three Malaysian elite winners and he was able to triumph over Singapore’s Mohamed Solihin Nordin at the lightweight (60kg).
Tay Jia Wei is one of the best elite competitor in the Singaporean national team, who was able to break the Malaysian dominancy in the Penang Pesta International Tournament. The Singaporean light welterweight (64kg) boxer knocked out Hong Kong’s Chan Fai Lung in the semi-final and he was able to continue his winning path in the final against Malaysia’s Hidayat Bin Abu Hassan.
Malaysia’s Theena Thayalan won an important international event in Uzbekistan and competed also in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Tashkent last year. The 20-year-old Malaysian welterweight (69kg) boxer knocked out his first rival and continued his tough performance in Penang where Hong Kong’s Wing Chun Chan was also not enough skilled to stop him.
Malaysia’s sixth elite gold medal was captured by Amerul Hafez Bin Shamshir who stopped his final rival at the middleweight (75kg), Mohammad Afiq Bin Ibrahim. Malaysia’s last gold medal was achieved by Wan Mohamed Rizuan Bin Wan Aziz who has got experiences from other big events as well therefore his success was no surprise.

List of the winners in the Penang Pesta Tournament
Youth 49kg: Lin Kun Chieh, Chinese Taipei
Youth 52kg: Amirul Hakim Bin Sakila, Malaysia
Youth 56kg: Edward Harefa, Indonesia
Youth 60kg: D. Inkong, Thailand
Youth 64kg: Lo Chien Shiang, Chinese Taipei
Youth 69kg: Mohamed Aswad Mohamed Halim, Malaysia
Youth 75kg: Wan Mohammad Haniff Bin Wan Zahalan, Malaysia
Youth 81kg: Akbar Gora Satria, Indonesia
Elite 49kg: Mohammad Azmi Bin Azhar, Malaysia
Elite 52kg: Mohamed Azlizam Bin Abu Talib, Malaysia
Elite 56kg: Muhammad Saiful Idham, Malaysia
Elite 60kg: Mohamed Akram Bin Rasit, Malaysia
Elite 64kg: Tay Jia Wei, Singapore
Elite 69kg: Theena Thayalan, Malaysia
Elite 75kg: Amerul Hafez Bin Shamshir, Malaysia
Elite 81kg: Wan Mohamed Rizuan Bin Wan Aziz, Malaysia