The one and only
Irfan a good bet to win medal at Asian Championships
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia are sending 17 athletes – 10 men and seven women – to the Asian Championships in India.
But only one – discus thrower Muhd Irfan Shamsuddin – looks to stand any chance of winning a medal when the competition begins at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar today.
Having finished only ninth in the Asian meet in Wuhan, China, two years ago with an effort of 54.27m, Irfan has improved by leaps and bounds.
The burly Negri Sembilan athlete holds the national record of 62.55m, which he achieved at the Union Leichtathletik Gala in Linz, Austria, on May 25. It erased his own previous national mark of 61.55m set in the Turnov, the Czech Republic, on May 23.
In fact, his record is better than the gold medal-winning mark of 62.03m achieved by Vikas Gowda of India in Wuhan.
“He has proven himself in Europe. It will be good to see how he performs against the best in Asia,” said national chief coach Zainal Abas yesterday.
“Based on his national record of 62.55m, he should qualify for the finals. But he will have to improve on that if he hopes to finish on the podium.”
The 22-year-old Irfan went to Europe on May 6 for a 53-day training-cum-competition stint and he excelled by rewriting his national record three times in five days.
On May 21, he threw the discus 61.10m in the Under-23 Hallesche Werfertage Championships in Halle, Germany, to erase his old mark of 59.29m set in the Slovak Clubs Championships in Samorin, Slovakia, last June.
Then came his 61.55m effort on May 23 and 62.55m on May 25.
The other Malaysian men down to compete today are sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan and high jumper Lee Hup Wei. The women in action today are sprinters Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli and S. Komalam Shally (100m), Shereen Samson Vallabouy (400m) and Noor Shahidatun Nadia Mohd Zuki (long jump).
Khairul, who has a personal best of 10.18, is expected to qualify for the men’s 100m final.