The Ministry of Interior’s star athletes have found early success at the 2023 World Police and Fire Games taking place in Winnepeg, Canada.
Proud members of the Kingdom’s police forces have grabbed gold on the table tennis and volleyball courts, as well as in the pool and on the wrestling mats at the Games, being held for the 20th time and running from July 28 to August 6.
According to the preliminary July 31 results, the men and women of the team had so far secured a total of 18 medals – nine gold and nine silver.
With several upcoming events, the team is hoping to add to its tally.
One of the standout efforts came from the men’s indoor volleyball team, which stormed to gold with an astonishing eight undefeated matches in the competitive Division II category.
During two days of stiff round robin competition, the team met and dispatched all comers, including police and fire department teams from Canada, the US and even Brazil, in just two sets.
They were able to repeat their performance in the semis, sending a Brazilian police team from the capital to the bronze playoffs.
It the finals match, the Brazilian Federal Military Fire Brigade (CBMDF) put up a stiffer contest than they had when the two sides met in a pool game, but the Cambodian side were able to defeat them 3-0 and secure gold.
The wrestlers also impressed, with four gold and three silver medals coming their way.
Heng Vuthy pinned his opponent in the heavyweight 86kg division to take gold.
He was joined on the top step of the podium by Chham Pisin in the 70kg category and 65kg grappler Eng Phanith.
Nguon Makara was able to secure a silver in 79kg, with Norng Krisna repeating Makara’s performance in the 74kg class.
Nuth Serey Rotha and female wrestler Nuth Sereyroth also claimed silver in the 61kg and 55kg divisions, respectively.
The swimming team had a strong start to the competition, with female athlete Sok Voleak taking two gold, in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
Hem Poch brought the team their third gold in the 100m freestyle and was able to add a silver to the team’s tally in the 400m freestyle event.
Lim Keo Uddom also claimed a silver in the 100m butterfly, to keep the medal table ticking over. The swimmers were scheduled to return to the pool for a further 10 events.
The team’s table tennis exponents were also off to a winning start, with five medals already secured.
Nay Saravey won gold in the 18-year-old men’s singles, with teammate Soeung Tola taking silver. In the over 30-year class, Kim Sovanna was able to secure a silver medal, losing in the final to a player from Hing Kong.
Samnang Vireakboth and Kim Sovanna won gold in the men’s doubles, with Nay Saravey and Soeung Tola earning silver.
Cambodia has dispatched a team of 49 to the event, where the athletes will test themselves in 13 events, including judo, jiu-jitsu, tennis, indoor and beach volleyball, arm-wrestling, golf, bench press and push-pull lifting.
The interior ministry earlier suggested a target of at least 15 gold medals was achievable, and with nine already in the bag, the team seems likely to hit their goal.
