Reaching the heights
Iskandar breaks national indoor vault record in Taipei
KUALA LUMPUR: Iskandar Alwi soared to a perfect start in his first competition of the year.
The Johorean rewrote his national indoor record with a height of 5.20m in the International Indoor Pole Vault Championships in Taipei yesterday.
His efforts was better than his previous mark of 5.15m which he set in the same competition in 2014.
The 23-year-old Iskandar also holds the national outdoor record of 5.20m which he set in the International Pole Vault meet in Busan, South Korea two years ago.
Nine athletes took part in the event and Iskandar was tied with Tomas Wecksten of Finland, Jin Min-sub of South Korea and Tyler Wallace of United States at the same height.
But on countback the Malaysian ended up in fifth place. Wecksten and Min-sub were awarded the silver while Wallace finished fourth.
Victor Weirich of the United States cleared 5.30m for the gold.
“I tried to clear 5.30m but failed in all three attempts,” said Iskandar.
“However, it is a good morale boost in preparation for the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.
“I hope to do better than what I did in the last Games,” added Iskandar, who won a bronze in Singapore with a height of 5.05m.
Nine pole vaulters also took part in the women’s competition with Malaysia’s Chuah Yu Tian coming in eighth with 3.30m.
Kortney Ross and Alison Koressel from the United States cleared the same height of 4.30m but Ross won on countback.
The hosts’ Kuan Mei Lin cleared 3.90m for the bronze.
Meanwhile, the national athletes failed to impress in the ASA Speed Series Four at Germiston, South Africa on Wednesday.
Pint-sized Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli clocked a poor time of 11.98 to finish a disappointing sixth in the women’s 100m race two.
The Penangite’s effort was way off her 11.45 national record she set in the ASA Speed Series Two at Bloemfontein, South Africa on March 8.
S. Komalam Shally, who has a personal best of 11.72, also clocked 11.98 to finish third in the women’s 100m race one.
Shereen Samson Vallabouy (54.91) and Nurul Faizah Asma Mazlan (56.69) also failed to shine as they finished fourth and sixth respectively in the women’s 400m event.
Khairul Hafiz Jantan, who holds the national record of 10.18, could only managed 10.51 in the men’s 100m race one to finish second.
Three national sprinters competed in the men’s 100m race two and Jonathan Nyepa also finished second with 10.60 while Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap (10.65) and Muhd Haiqal Hanafi (10.90) finished third and sixth respectively.
The quartet of Khairul, Jonathan, Badrul and Haiqal clocked 40.18 in the men’s 4x100m to finish third.