Shahidatun steals show as Malaysia are champs
By SHAMSHUL FITRI
KUANTAN: Malaysia ended the inaugural Asian Schools Track and Field Championships at the Darul Makmur Stadium with a three-gold blast.
Noor Shahidatun Nadia Mohd Zuki got the ball rolling by delivering a sensational double after winning the triple jump gold medal on Sunday.
S. Saranraj handed Malaysia the second gold in the 3,000m steeplechase before the boys’ 4x400m quartet delivered the third and final gold for the day.
But the day clearly belonged to Shahidatun, who had won the long jump gold on Thursday.
Yesterday, she even managed to chalk up a personal best of 13.01m en route to winning the triple jump gold medal.
She had been working hard over the last two years to breach the 13m mark and yesterday it paid off.
Her previous best of 12.99m was set at the Federal Territories All-Comers meet in Kuala Lumpur last year.
“I’m very, very happy with the win today ... and to break my own personal best makes it even sweeter,” said the 17-year-old Kedahan.
“It has been a good outing here in Kuantan, thanks to my winning the long jump and now the triple jump gold medals.
“But, like I said before, the SPM examination is now on my mind.”
Rochelle Maria Macfarlane of India took the triple jump silver medal after clearing 12.64m while H.D.V Lakshani of Sri Lanka took the bronze with 12.63m.
As for Saranraj, it was a case of being third time lucky.
Having been disappointed to settle for silver in the 5,000m and bronze in the 1,500m, Saranraj was clearly not in the mood to miss out on the coveted gold.
And he did just that in the 3,000m steeplechase, blasting past W.B.M. Samaraweera of Sri Lanka in 10:11.64 to take the gold medal.
The Sri Lankan clocked 10:14.19 for the silver while Thailand’s Natthaphong Ramkhwan (10:24.99) took the bronze.
It was sweet victory for Saranraj as it was Samaraweera who had pipped him to the gold in the 5,000m on Thursday.
“The coaches had initially targeted me to win the 5,000m and 1,500m and not the steeplechase. But I’m happy to win the gold medal and exact revenge on the Thai runner,” said Saranraj.
In the 4x400m event, the quartet of Mohd Firdaus Kimleh, Mohd Azam Masri, Badrul Hisyam Manap and Kwong Kar Jun took home Malaysia’s 12th medal of the championships after crossing the line in 3:16.16.
Thailand (3:19.94) settled for silver and Sri Lanka (3:21.14) the bronze.
Malaysia end the inaugural championships as the overall winners with a 12-14-10 haul ahead of India (12-11-6) and Thailand (10-5-3).
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