Irfan breaks national discus record

KUALA LUMPUR: National discus record holder Muhammad Irfan Shamsuddin completed an unprecedented hat-trick by smashing the national discus record on three consecutive occasions within a week.

Irfan who had set the national record of 59.29m at the Slovak Clubs Athletics Championships in Samorin, Slovakia on June 11, 2016 had first erased that mark on Monday at the Hallesch Werfertage Athletics Championships in Halle, Germany with a distance of 61.10m.

On Wednesday, he threw the discus to a distance of 61.56m in Turnov, Czech Republic to erase his own two-day old record before setting the new record of 62.55m at the 2017 Austrian Top Meeting Athletics Championships in Linz, Austria.

According to the Head of Strength and Endurance, National Sports Institute (ISN) Jad Adrian Washif in a statement issued yesterday, Muhammad Irfan has become the first Southeast Asian to throw over 60m and the record of 62.55m would rank him among the top five in Asia in the annual Asian Athletics Rankings.

"He needs to throw 67m in order to be the top 10 in the world, throw 65m to be top 30 or throw 64m to be in the top 50 while the 62.55m would put him in the top 75 bracket in the world. He will further improve his distance and therefore enhance the chance of winning a medal in 2018 Asian Games as well.

"He also needs to throw 63m in order to be in top 10 Commonwealth annual rankings. In order to qualify for IAAF (The International Association of Athletics Federations) world championships, London 2017, he must throw 65m before July 23," Jad Adrian said. - Bernama