GEORGE TOWN: Friendly rivalry and camaraderie took centre stage as the National Press Club (NPC) defended its Sabah Media-NPC Goodwill Games title with a 3-2 overall victory over Sabah.

The event, held from July 3-5 in George Town and hosted by the Penang Press Club (PPC), saw Sabah media members take on their NPC counterparts in five sporting events, namely pool, darts, football, badminton and bowling.

This marked the first time that the games were held in the peninsula. The inaugural event, held in Kota Kinabalu in 2022, saw the NPC emerge as victors.

(Second row from bottom, third from right) Ang, Ahirudin, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Lim Hui Ying, and Christopher pose with National Press Club (NPC) and Sabah media participants at the Penang Bowl, in conjunction with the second edition of the Sabah Media-NPC Goodwill Games.

The games' opening ceremony was held at @MyTwentySix Club, which also hosted the pool and darts events.

Penang Tourism and Creative Economy exco Wong Hon Wai officiated the event, together with NPC president Datuk Ahirudin Attan, Kota Kinabalu Media and Communications Club chairman Christopher Bernard Maskilone, and PPC president Ang Tong Kai.

Also present was @MyTwentySix Club owner Edwin Francis Martin, who is also the Penang Darts Association chairman.

The games commenced with the pool tournament, which NPC won 15-6. NPC continued the streak in the darts event, beating Sabah 10-6.

The early wins gave NPC a 2-0 lead in the overall points tally on the games' first day.

However, Sabah made ground the next day, edging NPC 4-3 in the badminton event to bring the overall games tally to 2-1.

At the Penang Bowl, NPC then narrowly beat their Sabahan rivals in the bowling event, winning 22 to 20.

This gave NPC an unassailable overall three-point lead going into the final event, football, which Sabah won 4-2.

The overall points tally of 3-2 meant that the Sabah Media-NPC Goodwill Games challenge trophy remained in the peninsula.

The closing ceremony was held at the St Giles Wembley Penang Hotel on Sunday, where the teams were treated to a luncheon, which also featured a musical performance by RS Murthi and his band, the Bluesoids.

Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/07/1481916/npc-defends-sabah-media-npc-goodwill-games-crown