False start, injury put paid to Malaysia’s hopes of sprint glory
HANOI: Malaysian runners no longer hold the title of Southeast Asian sprint king after Muhammad Azeem Fahmi was disqualified for a false start and Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat was hit by injury in the men’s 100metre (m) semi-finals at the 31st SEA Games.
Muhammad Azeem, 18, was not allowed to continue with his challenge in Heat Two at the My Dinh National Stadium after his reaction time was found to be 0.058th of a second faster than the starter’s gun.
National athletics head coach Manshahar Abdul Jalil said he lodged a written protest against Muhammad Azeem’s disqualification and asked the referee and technical delegate (TD) to provide an explanation.
“After the explanation by the referee and TD, there was evidence of Azeem moving much earlier and his feet were not on the starting blocks when the official fired the starter gun.
“There’s no controversy… Azeem has also seen the evidence.
“What is important now is that Azeem must not give up as he’s still young… earlier I asked the coaches to calm him down.
“We hope that at the Cambodian edition next year as well as other future editions of the SEA Games, he will prove that he is the best sprinter around,” the coach told reporters here.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Azeem, who was clearly disappointed at not being able to advance to the final on his debut in the biennial Games, vowed to return stronger.
“I feel that it should not have happened… perhaps it’s not meant to be for me this time.
“My goal was to qualify for the final, but nothing worked today. One day, I will be back,” he promised.
Muhammad Arsyad, who suffered a hamstring injury during Heat One of the semifinals, managed to take part in the final, where he came in sixth in 10.69 seconds (s).
Sixteen-year-old Puripol Boonson, dubbed the ‘Thai Wonderkid’ after winning the men’s 200m race with a new SEA Games record, completed a sprint double by clinching the blue riband event in 10.44s.
His compatriot, Soraoat Dapbang (10.56s) took the silver medal when he pipped Singapore’s Marc Brian Louis (10.56s) in a photo finish.
At the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, Khairul Hafiz Jantan ended Malaysia’s 14-year wait for the glitter of gold in the men’s 100m event by clocking 10.38s.
Two years later, Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi managed to defend the title for Malaysia when he won gold in 10.35s.
In the women’s 100m final, national sprinters Azreen Nabila Alias (11.99s) came in seventh while Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli (12.11s) ended up eighth - and last.
Kayla Anise Richardson (11.60s) of the Philippines sprinted away with the gold medal while Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira (11.62s), who captured the 200m gold, and Thailand’s Supanich Poolkerd (11.66s) settled for silver and bronze respectively. — Bernama