Youngster Khiew stuns Welson in Malaysian Open
YOUNGSTER Khiew Hoe Yean rose to the occasion as he became only the third Malaysian to dip under the Olympic Selection Time (OST) yesterday.
The 19-year-old made a splash on the first day of the Malaysian Open, held behind closed doors, as he raced to a surprise victory in the men’s 400m freestyle at the National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil.
The youngster, who won seven gold medals at the 2019 Asean Schools Games, clocked 3:51.56s to upstage the more established Welson Sim in his pet event for the victory.
Hoe Yean’s efforts was good enough to take him under the OST mark of 3:53.58. He joins Welson and Phee Jinq En as the only ones who have met the qualifying time in their respective events.
“I am happy with my performance after not racing for so long,” said Hoe Yean, who also splashed to eight gold medals at the national age-group meet last year.
“I have been training together with Welson and Sebastian Soon in the national training camp since the Covid-19 outbreak, and we’ve always given each other a fight.”
For Welson, who holds the national record of 3:49.29, it was certainly a disappointing outing.
The Sarawak-born, who came into the meet as the defending champion, was way off the pace as he only finished second in 3:57.74.
Sebastian came in third with a time of 4:02.63.
Welson did, however, grab a win in the 100m freestyle after clocking 50.80 to finish ahead of Samuel Ng (54.68) and Yap Yong Jie (54.89).
RESULTS — Men’s 50m backstroke: 1 Samuel Ng 28.58, 2 Yap Yong Jie 29:01;
100m breaststroke: 1 Ng Jing Fu 1:04.45, 2 Jordan Yip 1:04.50, 3 Hii Puong Wei 1:04.54;
100m freestyle: 1 Welson Sim
50.80, 2 Samuel Ng 54.68, 3 Yap Yong Jie 54.89;
200m butterfly: 1 Tia’a Faang Der 2:04.60, 2 Low Zheng Yong 2:05.88, 3 Anselm Lee 2:16.19;
400m freestyle: 1 Khiew Hoe Yean 3:51.56, 2 Welson Sim 3:57.74, 3 Sebastian Soon 4:02.63.
Women’s 50m backstroke: 1 Nessa Yip 31.25;
100m breaststroke: 1 Lim Shun Qi 1:16.40;
100m freestyle: 1 Angelina Chan 59.73, 2 Kelly Teo 1:00.20, 3 Leong Xin Rui 1:01.58;
200m butterfly: 1 Ong Yong Qi 2:19.15;
400m freestyle: 1 Goh Chia Tong 4:34.75. Kng Zheng Guan