Cheer Jackie on as he’s out to set a benchmark in hammer throw

HAMMER thrower Jackie Wong Siew Cheer wants to build on his Asian Games experience and do what no athlete in South-East Asia has done before – breaking the 70m mark.

Jackie, who finished seventh in the men’s hammer throw final in his Asian Games debut on Sunday, has set his mind on hurling the iron ball to a distance of 70m at the Manila SEA Games in December next year.

The 26-year-old missed hi his national mark of 66.01m m when he threw a distance of 65.92m in the final on Sunday.

“I hope to throw a distance of 70m before the Manila SEA Games,” said Jackie, who set the national mark at the Malaysian Open Athletics Championships in Bukit Jalil in May.

“I need to work harder to improve on my techniques. “70m is the benchmark to be cconsidered as an Asian-class athlete in the hammer tthrow and that is my next ggoal.”

Jackie was pleased with hiss performance considering he only got the nod to come to Jakarta at the last minute after the Asian Games organisers accepted his entry.

The Sarawakian has broken the national record 12 times since he started to get involved in hammer throw in 2013.

Jackie became the first Malaysian in 16 years to win gold in hammer throw at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year when he threw a distance of 65.90m, which was also a new Games record.

“I want to thank my coach for her presence here. She came here on her own expenses,” added Jackie, who trains under dedicated coach Gu Yuan.