Another milestone for Jonah
KUCHING: Rising star Jonah Chang Rigan made a major breakthrough in his debut at the Southeast Asian Youth Athletics Championships at Ilagan Sports Complex, Ilagan City, Phillippines last weekend.
The 16-year old student from SMK Sungai Paoh, Sarikei bagged the Shot Put gold medal with his best throw of 18.03m to shatter the old mark of 16.76m set by Thailand’s Patcharapol Singrueang last year.
That feat has earned him a ticket to compete in the Asian Youth Athletics Championships in Hong Kong from Mar 15-19 as the quali fying mark was 17.50m.
In fact, Jonah had broken the record in his very first throw of 17.76m, which was also already further than runner- up Bandit Singhatongkul of Thai land who registered a best of 17.62m. Jonah, the only representative from Sarawak in the Malaysian team, also collected a silver in the Discus when he heaved the disc to a distance of 49.84m.
I am very happy that he did well at the Southeast Asian Youth meet and helped to win medals for the national team. Thomas Ling Neng Thung, coach
His coach Thomas Ling Neng Thung when contacted said all the hard work, commitment and determination had paid off for Jonah.
“Jonah started training under me two years ago. He is a very hardworking and disciplined athlete.
“I am very happy that he did well at the Southeast Asian Youth meet and helped to win medals for the national team,” he said.
According to Ling, Jonah has been groomed for the next three editions of Sukma and to keep up Sarikei’s tradition of producing top throwers.
Apart from shot put and discus, Jonah has also picked up the hammer event. He is training six days a week at SMK Tinggi Sarikei and SMK Tong Hua.