Muthu expects good show from locals at Asian junior meet

KUALA LUMPUR: Track and field athletes who excel in the Johor Sukma (Malaysia Games) in March next year will get to compete against the best in the region at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships which Malaysia will host in the same year.

The Asian meet was inaugurated in 1986 and Malaysia first hosted it in 2004 in Ipoh.

Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk SM Muthu said that they are honoured to be given another chance to hold the meet by the Asian Athletics Associations (AAA).

“The biennial meet was supposed to be held this year but no country was keen on it. So we bid for it and are happy to get the approval,” said Muthu.

“We will use the Sukma to select our athletes. We hope all states will send their best talent.

“We have some good juniors in the country and I’m confident some of them will do well at Asian level.”

Among the athletes who could spring a surprise is sprinter Mohd Azeem Mohd Fahmi, who has a personal best of 10.57 in the 100m and hammer thrower Grace Wong.

“The AAA will inform us about the dates later this year as right now their calendar for next year is cramped up with so many events due to the Covid-19.”

He added that athletes, who excel in the Asian Juniors could also earn a ticket for the Hanoi SEA Games next year in November.

At the last Asian meet in Gifu, Japan in 2018, Malaysia bagged two bronzes in the 100m (Mohd Zulfiqar Ismail) and 4x400m (Luqmanul Hakim Khairul Akmal, Mohd Ilham Suhami, Safwan Saifuddin and Abdul Wafiy Roslan).