KUCHING, July 27 — Malaysia’s wait for a new sprint to emerge from the ruins of athletics in the country ended when Khairul Hafiz Jantan set the Sarawak Stadium ablaze by smashing the 18-year-old National 100m record held by Watson Nyambek in an exciting final here today.
Khairul Hafiz from Melaka became the country’s fastest man and claimed the undisputed ‘Sprint King’ title after crossing the finish line in 10.18 seconds, well ahead of his two rivals and the old record of 10.30s set by Watson at the 1998 Pre-Commonwealth Games meet.
Sarawakian Jonathan Nyepi and Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap from Melaka crossed the finish line with identical times of 10.36s but the silver was awarded to Nyepi after a photo finish.
The 100m sprint, always the blue ribbon event of any major games, gave thousands of fans who had filled the Sarawak Stadium their ‘money’s worth’ although entrance was free.
The time set by Kahirul Hafiz was also a mere 0.01s away from the SEA Games 100m record set by Indonesian Suryo Agung Wibowo at the 2009 Laos SEA Games but well below the 10.25s winning time in Singapore last year.
Speaking to reporters after the victory, Khairul Hafiz, 18, said his teammate Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap had spurred him on to achieve the feat.
“Badrul Hisyam is like a brother to me, it was because of his motivation that I was able to achieve this result. I really did not think I could achieve this because I just got back from (the World Junior Athletics Championships in) Poland.
“I want to dedicate this victory to all Malaysians because this has been a record for so long...Thank God, I was able to break the record” he said with tears of joy.
Khairul Hafiz, who is also one of the athletes under the Kita Juara Programme for the 2017 SEA Games, said he attributed the success to the guidance of his coach, Mohd Poad Md Kassim, as well as prayers, and the blessings of his parents.
Earlier, in the morning, the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School student won the second heat of the 100m semi-finals with a time of 10.44s, equalling the time he recorded in Poland.
The success of breaking the national record completes an outstanding season for Khairul Hafiz this year.
He won the 100m gold medal at the Asian Youth Championship in Vietnam last month clocking in at 10.36s, besides reaching the semi-finals of the World Junior Championships in Poland.
Badrul Hisyam and Khairul Hafiz will join the men’s 200m semi-final heats tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Perak’s Noor Eewan Syafiqah Mohd Sabri was crowned as the Sprint Queen after winning the women’s 100m event, clocking in at 12.01s.
The silver went to Terengganu’s Azreen Nabila Alias (12.04s) while Noor Eewan Syfiqah’s teammate Kang Woan Yi settled for bronze (12.13s). — Bernama
