KUALA LUMPUR, 16 December 2021 – Malaysians from across the nation put their strength to test to get one step closer to becoming a Malaysian obstacle warrior champion at the Obstacle Warrior 2021 National Championships. The first round of the Obstacle Warrior National League and national championships' qualifiers saw a performance of human strength and agility as contestants navigated their way through larger-than-life obstacles which proved very challenging.
With only a short window for each participant to complete the course, this clearly was not a brain versus brawn situation as contestants had to use both mental and physical abilities to finish in the shortest possible time. Designed and developed in accordance with the international standard obstacle course, Escape Petaling Jaya showcased 18 different obstacles with various difficulty levels.
The recent event launch press conference was attended by Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, YB Senator Dato’ Sri Ti Lian Ker, who witnessed the practice round of the Obstacle Warrior 2021 National Championships Malaysia.
Following the weekend qualifiers, Renee Tan currently the No. 1 Women Rookie and breakout star of the national championships, is ranking 2nd place for the Female Category, whereas National Women's 5km No. 1 and SEA Games silver medalist, Yip Hui Teng is currently ranked in 5th place.
In a surprise performance, relatively unknown up and coming female athlete Wan Athirah Hidayah Binti Ahmad Fuzli put in a spirited effort to take the No 1 ranking and clocked in a time at just over 6 minutes.
Meanwhile for the Male Category, Leong Chee Wai (National Men's 100m No. 4) and Mohd Redha Rozlan (National Men's 100m No. 1 and SEA Games triple silver medalist) rankings stand at 3rd and 5th place respectively.
The current No.1 ranking Male athlete Muhamad Adib bin Nor Akhsan who was ranked 5th in the previous national championships was a talent unearthed from UITM Shah Alam. During these national championships he surprised everyone with his progress despite the lockdown and currently stands on top of the rankings going into the finals next weekend.
The Youth category saw impressive performances from a number of male and female youth including many newcomers to the sport such as 16-year-old Zachary
Liew Pui Hin. The No 1 ranked Youth was Muhammad Ayman Bin Firas who put in a stellar effort to clock in a time under 3 minutes. Accomplished youth athlete Shareen Mohd Nasran clocked in an impressive time of 4 mins and 30secs to earn her place in the upcoming finals on 19 December.
Refer to Appendix 1 for Event Competitor photos, Appendix 2 for current Leaderboard Rankings of the top 10 Adult Male, Adult Female and Youth, and Appendix 3 for Event Press Conference photos.
With one final round of qualifiers set to take place on 18 December in the lead up to the epic Finale on 19th December 2021, this event is being held at Escape Petaling Jaya in Paradigm Mall, for the first time ever in a shopping mall. This competition is opened for all to watch on-site or on Facebook Live @obstacle-warrior.
Sanctioned by the Malaysian Obstacle Race Sports Association (MORSA) and approved by the National Sports Council, Escape Petaling Jaya and Paradigm Mall are the host venue for this year’s event via a strategic collaboration between World Sports Entertainment Sdn Bhd the event owner and promoter with Sim Leisure Group, who designed and built the international standard Obstacle Course within the Escape Petaling Jaya attraction.
Owned and managed by World Sports Entertainment Sdn Bhd, this event is set to see Malaysian contestants racing against the clock to become the final 30 / top 10 for their respective categories. This event is only open to Malaysians and divided into three categories which are Male, Female and Youth (Under 17) who will compete for a share of RM5,000 in prize money.
In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, all participants will be required to arrive 90 minutes beforehand and to comply with all safe practices and rules set by the organizer. In order to limit the number of people on the premises at any one time, there will be limited competitors competing within the hour, individually.
Sharing his comments, Andrew Ng, Executive Director of World Sports Entertainment said, “We are very pleased to see that our Obstacle Warrior League has had such a great start. We certainly look forward to seeing many great performances this coming weekend as more participants demonstrate their skills on this challenging and unique international standard obstacle course.”
He added that he is extremely excited and cannot wait to see young and new talents emerging at the forefront during the finals.
“I would like to give my sincere thanks to World Sports Entertainment for staging such a professional event and to all the partners who helped make the event possible, especially to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, National Sports Council, Sim Leisure Group and Paradigm Mall. Also, thank you for always believing in the spirit of sportsmanship and having a profound passion and love for this sport,” said Alex Cheah, President of MORSA.
Those interested to find out more can visit www.obstacle-warrior.com.
