Good timing in Germany puts Zaidatul in good stead for Asiad

KUALA LUMPUR: Pint size sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli has put herself in the right frame of mind for the Asian Games in Jakarta from Aug 18-Sept 2.

The Kedahan clocked a season best of 11.59 in the women’s 100m to win the semi-finals in the Chrono Classic Athletics meet in Weinheim, Germany on Saturday.

In the final, the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games silver medallist, clocked 11.64 to finish eighth and last in the race.

The 24-year-old Zaidatul is in Germany for six weeks of training-cum- competitions stint in preparation for the Asian Games.

National coach M. Balamurugan was impressed with Zaidatul’s efforts.

“I was confident that she will be able to clock below 11.60 seconds in Germany. She did a season best in the semi-finals but could not do a better time in the final due to the tight schedule.

“She ran the semi-finals at 5.45pm and an hour later she had to compete in the final,” said Balamurugan.

Jonathan Nyepa qualified for B final by clocking 10.41 to finish second in the men’s 100m semi-finals.

In the final, the Sarawakian and America’s Bailey Aldrich both clocked 10.36 for a photo finish. But the American was awarded the gold.

Jonathan’s time, however, was slower than his personal best of 10.28 set at the Korea Open Championships in Jeongseon last year.

SEA Games gold medallist Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian clocked 13.90 in the men’s 110m hurdles final to finish third.

It was a 1-2 finish for the Germans with John Alexander posting 13.62 to win the gold while Bayer Maximilian clocked 13.82 to take the silver.