Sarawak’s Mohd Rizzua Haizad celebrates after winning the 110m hurdles in 14.54sec at the 2016 Sukma in this file photo.
KUCHING (April 12): Sarawak’s top 110m hurdler will reach another career milestone when he makes his SEA Games debut in Hanoi, Vietnam from May 12 to 23.
Mohd Rizzua Haizad is best remembered for winning the event in the 2016 Sukma en route to erasing Sarawak’s first Olympian Bala Ditta’s 54-year-old state record of 14.60sec, the longest standing record in the book.
Rizzua, who just turned 25, may not have beaten the qualifying time for the regional games. But he has shown enough promise for the Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) to select him under Category B.
MAF will foot the bill but will be reimbursed by the Olympic Council of Malaysia if he wins a medal in Hanoi.
The 110m hurdles provided high drama at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
Clinton Bautista of the host nation pipped Malaysia’s Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian in a controversial photo finish.
Both were timed at 13.97s in an apparent dead-heat. There was no short of disgruntled officials after Malaysia’s protest was turned down.
Xaysa of Laos was third in 13.99s which is used as the qualifying mark for this year’s edition.
Malaysia’s Rayzam Shah (second from right) matches Clinton Bautista of the Philippines stride for stride in the 110m hurdles at the 2019 SEA Games in this Bernama file photo. Clinton was eventually declared the winner after both finished in an identical time of 13.97sec.
Sabah-born Rayzam was the SEA Games champion in 2007 and 2017 with three silvers in between.
As pandemic-related restrictions have stifled athletes in training and competition in the past two years, he has also failed to dip under 14sec since 2017.
The veteran is also selected under Category B for his seventh SEA Games in Hanoi which could well turn out to be his swansong.
The 34-year-old, who holds the national record of 13.67s, has reigned as Malaysia’s high hurdles kingpin for over 15 years.
However, he was beaten by Rizzua in two major clashes this year.
At the Perak All-Comers Meet towards the end of February, the younger man won in a new personal best of 14.11s (which ranks as the sixth best in Malaysia’s all-time list) to comfortably beat Rayzam who was timed at 14.40s.
The Sarawakian won again a week later at the Malaysian Open Championships in Kuala Lumpur. It was a tighter race as Rizzua finished in 14.13 to Rayzam’s 14.19s.
Next month’s Vietnam SEA Games could set the stage for the changing of the guards between the two East Malaysians.
Rizzua has impressed with steady progress since his schooldays. The Bukit Jalil Sports School alumnus was the national schools Under-18 champion and represented Malaysia at the 2013 Youth Olympic Games held in Nanjing, China.
He improved his personal best from 14.54s in 2016 to 14.25s when he successfully defended his Sukma title in 2018.
Interestingly, Rizzua will have another rendevous with history and the legacy of 1964 Olympian Bala Ditta in Hanoi. He is the first Sarawakian in 51 years to compete in the 110m hurdles at the SEA Games.
It was at the 1971 SEAP Games in Kuala Lumpur that Bala made his last international comeback from retirement at the age of 34.
He snatched the silver medal in 14.70s behind 23-year-old compatriot Istiaq Mobarak who won in a record-breaking 14.40s.
It’s a long shot but Rizzua and Rayzam also have a chance to create history together next month.
If they can pull off a 1-2 finish for Malaysia, history repeats itself after another Malaysian duo – a rising star and a retiring veteran – stood side by side on the podium at the Merdeka Stadium over half a century ago.