Hakimi’s heartache
Malaysian flag bearer fails to grab podium finish in triple jump
HOPES were high on triple jumper Muhd
Hakimi Ismail to get on the podium after he secured a creditable fourth spot in the qualifying on Friday.
But the Malaysian flag bearer failed miserably in the final at the Carrara Stadium yesterday.
Hakimi, who has a season best of 16.36m, only managed a poor jump of 15.97m to finish ninth out of 11 competitors.
His effort was way off his SEA Games and national record of 16.77m, which was set at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last August.
The 27yearold Hakimi was frustrated over his poor jump in the final.
“I was proud to be the Games flag bearer and was quite motivated but I failed to make a decent jump today,” said the Podium
Programme athlete.
“I’ve let everyone down. It was disappointing to jump below 16 metres.”
Meanwhile, the Malaysian men’s 4x100m quartet of Khairul Hafiz Jantan, Badrul
Hisyam Abdul Manap, Jonathan Nyepa and
Nixson Kennedy also failed to break the national record of 39.27 in the final.
They finished seventh in the final but improved their season best for the second time in two days.
They clocked 39.37 to better the time of
39.39 they posted in qualifying on Friday.
SEA Games gold medallist Khairul said they failed to better the national record due to a poor baton change.
“We need to work on this area to clock better times in the future. Overall, we did okay to improve our season best twice in qualifying and also in the final,” said the SEA
Games 100m gold medallist.