Sprint double for Aqil at SUKIPT
clinching the coveted 100m gold earlier in the competition, Muhammad Aqil Yasmin completed a prestigious sprint double by taking the 200m title at the Malaysia Institutions of Higher Learning Games (SUKIPT) yesterday.
The Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student clinched victory at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Stadium in a time of 21.64 seconds.
Kolej Komuniti Malaysia’s Sharimien Saimoh came in second on 22.23s while Mohd Shamimi Azmi (22.24s) from Universiti Malaya completed the podium.
Aqil said the absence of national sprinter G. Aravinn Thevarr, who is competing in the PreAsian Games in Indonesia, opened up the competition.
“I am grateful to be able to win both the 100m and 200m SUKIPT gold medals and achieve the target set by my university,” said Aqil, who was also part of the UiTM squad that took bronze in the 4x400m event yesterday.
“The competition is different this time compared to my first outing at SUKIPT as I had to compete with Aravinn, nevertheless it is an honour to win gold.”
Aqil, who represented Malaysia at the World University Games in Taiwan last year, is hoping to build on his performance in future competitions.
The women’s 200m saw Fathin Faqihah Mohd Yusuf from Universiti Malaysia Sabah emerging victorious in a time of 25.76s.
Coming in a close second was Montita Sombotchai (25.94s) from Suratthani Rajabhat University while bronze went to HELP University’s M. R. Tanalaksiumy who clocked 26.02s.
Fathin said her win made up for her failure to win the 400m gold which is her pet event.
“I did not set any target for the 200m but it was an open competition as (national sprinter) Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli did not compete this time.”