“I can’t believe it,” said Mr. Yong in a statement to Seven News. “It feels great to know these numbers were the winning ones. I based them on previous draws and selected ones which had not come up in a while. I hoped for the best and I’m thrilled with the result.” While Mr Yong won’t see any of the prize money, he said that he was happy for the winning group and that he hoped another syndicate he set up would be just as lucky for Thursday’s Australian Powerball draw, which boasts a top prize of AU$50 million.
The top prize had been rolling over since Tuesday 14th April, when two ticket holders split AU$40 million, and the winning Oz Lotto numbers for Tuesday 26th May were 9, 26, 32, 39, 40, 42 and 44 with Supplementary Numbers 4 and 11. Two members of the lucky syndicate have already come forward to claim their winnings.
According to Lotterywest spokesperson Pina Compagnone, the Oz Lotto win “has only been matched three times in WA’s [Western Australia’s] history, in 2001, 2007 and 2013.” She encouraged the remaining syndicate members to check their tickets as soon as possible.