Debutant Aqil grabs 100m gold in Naypyidaw

KUALA LUMPUR: Sprinter Muhd Aqil Yasmin (pic) made a memorable debut in the 19th Asean University Games in Naypyidaw, Myanmar.

The 21-year-old Selangor athlete clocked a time of 10.53 to win the men’s 100m gold at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium on Sunday.

His time, however, was way off his personal best of 10.39 set in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Ipoh to win gold in September.

Eko Rimbawan of Indonesia clocked 10.59 to settle for silver while another Malaysian Jonathan Nyepa took the bronze with a time of 10.66.

In the 200m final on Tuesday, Aqil bagged the bronze by posting 21.26, which was slower than his personal best time of 21.01 he did to win the gold in Sukma.

It was a 1-2 finish for the Thai sprinters in the 200m as Jirapong Meenapra clocked 21.12 to win gold while his teammate Nutthapong Veeravongratanasi clocked 21.21 to take the silver.

Aqil, who is pursuing a diploma in Sports Science at the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Shah Alam, was more than pleased for winning the gold in the 100m, which is not his pet event.

“I did not train hard as I was busy preparing for my semester examinations. My focus was on my 200m pet event but it was a surprise that I won the blue riband event.

“It was my first Asean University Games and it feels nice to return with a gold and a silver,” said Aqil, who will be sitting for his examinations next week.

Aqil added that he wants to feature in his first SEA Games in the Philippines next year and to achieve that he has to finish among the top two in the final of 100m and 200m in the Malaysian Open at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil from March 23-24.

“The Malaysian Open will be the selection process to win a place for the SEA Games.

“I will face a strong challenge from SEA Games gold medallist Khairul (Hafiz Jantan), Jonathan and other local sprinters in both 100m and 200m,” said Aqil.

I did not train hard as I was busy preparing for my semester examinations. My focus was on my 200m pet event but it was a surprise that I won the blue riband event. Muhd Aqil Yasmin