Sarawak, Sabah athletes shine at National Championships

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Queenie in action at NSC Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — Bernama photo

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): National discus record holder Queenie Ting Kung Ni threw 49.11m to win the event on the second and final day of the National Athletics Championships here yesterday.

However, it was more than a metre less than her national mark of 50.67m which she set at last month’s Malaysian Track and Field trials.

“I was aiming to break my national record but the cold weather affected the performance slightly today,” said the 24-year-old Sarawakian while teammate Clarence Syree Jeffrey finished third with 34.71m. A string of other Sarawak and Sabah athletes performed well at the NSC Stadium yesterday.

2019 SEA Games champion Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian and Benedict Ian Gawok made it a 1-2 finish for Sabah in the men’s 110m hurdles clocking 13.72 and 13.92sec respectively. Sarawak’s Mohd Rizzua Haizad was third with a time of 14.16.

Another Sabahan Andre Annuar won the triple jump with a distance of 15.88m. Finishing second was Sarawak’s Brandon Ting who cleared a best of 14.94m.

The 200m was won by Sarawak’s Jonathan Nyepa in 21.13secs. Fellow Sarawakian Abdul Rahman Lee hurled the disc to 46.45m to take second place in the men’s discus. The event was won by reigning SEA Games champion Muhd Irfan Shamsuddin whose best distance yesterday was 52.38m.

A little-known youngster from Sabah soared to a new height to beat Olympian Lee Hup Wei en route to winning the men’s high jump gold. 22-year-old Mohd Eizlan Dahalan cleared 2.14m as did fellow Sabahan Farell Glenn Felix Jurus.

Mohd Eizlan, who surpassed his previous personal best of 2.13m, took the gold medal on countback. Veteran Hup Wei, 34, had to be satisfied with the bronze medal after clearing 2.10m, way below his personal best of 2.29m. The qualifying mark for the 2022 SEA Games is 2.15m

“I hope to raise my performance level next year, perhaps to 2.17m for a start. InsyaAllah, I can be the replacement for our elite jumpers (like Hup Wei and Nauraj Singh) one day. For now, going by my personal best, I’m still quite a distance away.

“But I intend to use that as my motivation, besides hoping to get tips and help from them as they are both vastly experienced,” he said after the prize-giving ceremony. — Bernama