Sprinter Zaidatul breaks 23-year meet record.
Sprinter Zaidatul breaks 23-year meet record to book SEA Games ticket
KUALA LUMPUR: National top woman sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli blazed the track not once but twice and went on to shatter a 23-year meet record to qualify for the Philippines SEA Games in December.
The 26-year-old was on fire in the Perak AllComers Athletics Championships yesterday when she clocked 11.73 to win the women’s 100m heats in the morning to surpass her own SEA Games silver-medal winning mark of 11.74, which she did at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur edition.
In the final, she sprinted to the finishing line in a season-best time of 11.65 en route to the gold at the Perak Stadium in Ipoh.
Zaidatul erased the 23-year meet record of 11.90 set by Yew Chai Peng of Perak in 1996.
The 33-year-old Siti Fatima Mohamad was hoping to give Zaidatul a run for her money but finished second with 11.99 while former national sprinter S. Komalam Shally came in third in 12.01 in third.
Zaidatul, who will be leaving for Atlanta, the United States, for an eight-month stint tomorrow in preparation for the SEA Games, was thrilled to bits with her efforts.
“I did not expect to beat the SEA Games qualifying mark twice in my first competition this year. I’ve achieved my first mission,” said Zaidatul.
“Clocking the season’s best of 11.65 has boosted my confidence in doing a much better time during my training stint in Atlanta. My next goal is to beat the long-standing 100m national record of 11.50.”
The mark set by former sprinter G. Shanti at the pre-SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1993 still stands.
National sprint coach M. Balamurugan praised Zaidatul for her performance.
“I believe, with the training in the US, she can set a time of 11.30 to qualify for the World Championships in Doha (from Sept 27-Oct 6),” said Balamurugan.
National sprinter Jonathan Nyepa, who will also be leaving for Atlanta tomorrow for the training stint, posted 10.49 to break the meet record in the men’s 100m final.
The Sarawakian erased the previous mark of 10.50 set by Harith Ammar in 2015.
However, Jonathan’s effort was way off his personal best of 10.28 and the SEA Games qualifying mark of 10.42.
Malaysia Games (Sukma) gold medallist Muhd Aqil Yasmin, who has a personal best of 10.39, clocked a poor time of 10.65 to finish second while Muhd Zulfiqar Ismail posted 10.76 to bag the bronze.
A third meet record was shattered in the men’s 4x100m as the quartet of Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap, Mohd Arsyad Mad Saat, Muhd Haiqal Hanafi and Muhd Zulfiqar Ismail of Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) clocked 40.48 to erase the previous mark of 40.72 set by Jonathan, Harith Ammar Mohd Sobri, Nixson Kennedy and Mohd Izzuddin Yahaya of the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) in 2015.