PETALING JAYA: It was a good day for Malaysia as discus thrower Choo Kang Ni powered her way to a gold while hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian qualified for the SEA Games at the Qasanov Memorial.
National athlete Kang Ni hurled a distance of 42.65m to finish at the top spot in the women’s discus on Saturday (June 19) on the opening day of the two-day athletics tournament in Kazakhstan, which is the qualifying meet for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Top hurdler Rayzam did not win a gold but he has booked a ticket for the Vietnam SEA Games in Hanoi this year. He finished third with 14.18s in the men’s 110m hurdles final but it was good enough to beat the SEA Games qualifying mark of 14.20s.
National sprinter Jonathan Nyepa was close to winning the men’s 100m but was pipped to the gold by Kazakhstan’s Vitaliy Sims in the final.
Jonathan posted a time of 10.64s, an improvement compared to his 10.70s, which he had clocked at the Malaysian Athletics Grand Prix in Bukit Jalil two months ago.
In the men’s 400m final, Mohd Ilham Suhaimi finished fourth with a time of 48.47s while women’s high jumper Yap Sean Yee finished fifth in her event with a jump of 1.80m.
