Excellent Show By Our Athletes

BUKIT Jalil Sports School (BJSS) had a fruitful outing at the Thailand Sports Schools Games in Bangkok recently.

BJSS, with a contingent of 26 — 20 athletes and six officials — took part in the athletics championships only. But the athletes made a good impression by winning eight gold, seven silver and six bronze medals in the championships.

In form: Elena Goh won the gold medal in the girls’ 3000m walk.

Head of delegation Kon Chen Choong said the games had 21 sports but BJSS only took part in the athletics programme.

The games was organised for the 17 sports schools in Thailand. BJSS and Singapore Sports School were the invited teams in the games.

Kon said the athletcs championships had three age groups — Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 — for both boys and girls.

“We are certainly happy with the boys’ and girls’ results. Nine of them returned with personal bests. We did not send our top athletes who had taken part in the Asean Schools Games and Youth Olympic Games.

“The championships was an excellent platform for our athletes to gain exposure,’’ said Kon.

BJSS had been taking part in the games since 2003. Besides athletics, BJSS had taken part in tennis, volleyball, swimming, netball and football. However for 2009 and 2010, the Education Ministry had not allocated any budget to the BJSS for international competitions.

However, BJSS Parent-Teacher Association, headed by Datuk Dom Amy Hussin, decided to fund the BJSS athletic contingent.

Kon said they were grateful to the PTA for sponsoring the athletics contingent to the games.

“Most of the athletes, who represented BJSS in the games, are in the back-up training programme. They rarely get the chance to compete in international competitions.

“Our aim was to provide them an opportunity to gauge their progress,’’ said Kon.

On track: Alif Ashraf bagged the gold in the 110m hurdles.

The medal winners

Gold: Muhd Anwaruddin Shah Ramli (shot putt); Mohd Faizul Muhd Lazim (pole vault); K. Kathiresan (800m); Alif Ashraf Mohd Razali (110m hurdles); Mohd Azly Ghazali (high jump); Nik Norzilawati Nik Wil (800m); Puteri Nur Liyana Megat Abdul Hajat (high jump); Elena Goh Ling Yin (3,000m walk).

Silver: Lee Sang Yi (long jump); Mahafizatul Abdul manaf (100m); Chang Ching Yin (high jump); Mardiana Abdul Manaf (shot putt); Jasmine Cheah Kar Munn (pole vault); Nik Norzilawati Nil Wil (1,500m); Chuah Yu Tian (triple jump).

Bronze: Muhd Anwaruddin Shah Ramli (discus); S. Saranraj (1500m); Yii Tzong Zinn (5,000m walk); Nurfazira Jalaudin (shot putt); Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli (100m and 200m).