Proud moment: Perak’s Mitsuki Leong (right) and his sister Shihomi (left) sharing a light moment with their father Jeff after winning the mixed doubles gold. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
IT was the perfect ending for Mitsuki Leong in his final Malaysia Games (Sukma) appearance as he defended both his gold medals in the boys’ singles and mixed doubles events, but younger sister Shihomi is going to miss having him next to her.
The 17-year-old Shihomi and Mitsuki, 20, won 6-4, 6-2 in the mixed doubles final against Sarawak’s Hii Shieng Wee and Lydia Liong at the Sarawak Lawn Tennis Association (SLTA) yesterday, defending their gold medal from the 2022 Kuala Lumpur edition.
“Of course, it feels great to win another gold for Perak because we also won together in the previous Sukma,” said Shihomi.
“It’s Mitsuki’s last Sukma, so I really wanted to win it with him one last time.
“The match was good, even though we didn’t start off that well in the first set, we came back to finish strong in the end,” she said.
Although Shihomi did not get her ideal finish of two gold medals after settling for silver in the girls’ singles, she remains satisfied with her overall performance.
“I didn’t really achieve what I set out to do. My opponent was really good but the win with Mitsuki makes me happy,” she said.
With the opportunity to compete in another two Sukma editions, Shihomi said only time will tell who she would be partnered up with in the future, but the quality within the Perak team gives her confidence.
Mitsuki was happy to end his last Sukma in a perfect way.
“I can’t wish for anything more than this. As for Shihomi, I know she will do well in the future,” he said.
Mitsuki took gold in the boys’ singles event after taking down teammate Daniel Prickett 6-1, 6-4 in the final on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Selangor pairing of Sharifah Elsa Wan Abdul Rahman and Saw Jo-Leen relied on each other as they fought their way back against Sarawak’s Soo Hui Yii and Lydia Liong to win the gold medal with a stunning 6-4, 6-4 victory.
“I’m super happy with this win, it was all about teamwork for the both of us. We kept reminding each other to stay positive and we managed to come out strong,” said the 17-year-old Jo-Leen.
It was Sharifah’s second gold medal at the Sarawak Sukma after winning the girl’s singles event on Thursday.
“I was definitely nervous today but so glad my teammate had my back,” said Sharifah.
RESULTS
Mixed doubles
Final: Mitsuki Leong-Shihomi Leong (Prk) bt Hii Shieng Wee-Lydia Liong (Swk) 6-4, 6-2.
Bronze medal match: Hayden Khoo Menon-Saw Jo-Leen (Sel) bt Timothy Foo-Chan Yu Chi (Pen) 2-6, 6-3, 10-2.
Boys’ doubles
Final: Darrshan Suresh Kumar-Leroy Yong (FT) bt S. Devesh-Syed Uzair Sufi Syed Ibrahim (Sel) 6-1, 6-0.
Bronze medal match: Roger Tan-Timothy Foo (Pen) bt Muhammad Farreez Isqandar Abdul Rais-Pavel Liam Thadani (Prk) 6-3, 6-4.
Girls’ doubles
Final: Sharifah Elsa Wan Abdul Rahman-Saw Jo-Leen (Sel) bt Soo Hui Yii-Lydia Liong (Swk) 6-4, 6-4.
Bronze medal match: Chloe Chong-Zooey Mak (Sel) bt Annur Sufieyah Nik Rozelan-Wan Noor Hidayah Mohd Yusof (Joh) 6-1, 6-2.
