KUALA LUMPUR: National discus champion, Muhammad Irfan Shamsuddin has vowed to defend his gold medal at the SEA Games in Singapore after setting a new national record with a throw of 58.04m at the 92nd Malaysian Open Athletics Championship yesterday.
Muhammad Irfan, 20, overcame his personal record of 54.26m which he achieved at the 17th Sukma at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium, Kangar, Perlis last May.
He said he did not expect to break the record despite targeting a gold medal at the three-day event at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which started on Friday.
“I felt in good shape when I woke up this morning and I wanted to create a record but I did not expect to get a new record as such,” he told reporters.
Muhammad Irfan is targeting a throw of 60 metres at the SEA Games from June 5 to 16.
The SEA Games record is currently held by Wong Tuck Yim of Singapore, with a throw of 59.50m.
At the championship yesterday, Muhammad Irfan defeated Abdul Rahman Lee of Sarawak who won silver with a throw of 40.88m and Mohd Hafiz Hashim (ATM) who won the bronze with a throw of 40.62m.
Meanwhile, Mohd Izzuddin Yahya of Perlis won gold in the men’s 100m in a time of 10.51 seconds, despite not achieving his personal best of 10.48s which he recorded in Friday’s semi-finals.
Nixson Kennedy of Sarawak was second in 10.62s and third was Harith Ammar Md Sobri (Terengganu) in 10.63s.
In the women’s 800m, Vietnam athletes Do Thi Thao and Vu Thi Ly won the gold and silver medals respectively, as Sarawak’s Faradillah Raznie took the bronze in 2:17.20s. — Bernama