Johnny extends Sarawak’s domination of the hammer throw with a new record.
IPOH: Sarawak continued with their domination in the men’s hammer throw when Johnny Ling Siew Hong and Ngu Ing Biao completed a one-two finish at the Perak Stadium yesterday.
It was the fifth consecutive time that Sarawak has won the event, stretching back a decade to Jackie Wong (2008, 2010, 2014), Michael Sia in 2014 and Jackson Wong in 2016.
Nineteen-year old Johnny, a former student of SMK Sacred Heart, nailed his best distance with his very first attempt of 57.37m to shatter the Sukma record of 56.98m created by Michael in Sukma Perlis four years ago.
Ing Piao, whose strong event is actually the discus, recorded his best of 53.14m to snatch the silver from Sadat Marzuqi Ajisan of Negeri Sembilan who threw 51.68m.
“I am very happy with my performance today because I have achieved my target of not only winning the gold medal but also breaking the Sukma meet record.
“I would like to thank all the coaches especially Ting Kung Jin and Thomas Ling Neng Thung for their guidance and to my parents, friends and teammates for their strong support,” Johnny said.
He also expressed his gratitude to SMK Tung Hua in Bintagor for the use of the training facilities there.
“I stopped training last year after competing in the National Open to concentrate on my SPM,” he added.
The hard work since has paid off as he found out later in the day that he has met the qualifying mark for next year’s SEA Games in the Philippines.
There he is likely to join current national record holder Jackie Wong (66.01m) who is the reigning SEA Games champion.
Meanwhile, on the track, Selangor’s Muhd Aqil Yasmin won the men’s 100m sprint with a time of 10.39sec, pipping Negri Sembilan’s Muhd Haiqal Hanafi (10.43s) and Terengganu’s Muhd Zulfiqar Ismail (10.46s).
The women’s race was won by Terengganu’s Azreen Nabila Alias in a new record of 11.81sec ahead of the Sabah duo of Chelsea Cassiopeia Evali Bopulas (12.17s) and Syaffiera Duris (12.18s). Sarawak’s Norris Foo finished sixth in 12.56s.
National parathlete Abdul Latiff Romly provided another highlight of yesterday’s action when he won the long jump with a distance of 7.46m. While happy that he won a gold for his state Perlis, the 2016 Rio Paralympic gold medalist with a personal best of 7.85m was disappointed for not surpassing the 16-year-old Sukma record of 7.55m.