PETALING JAYA, July 3 — It was heartbreaking breaking for national coach Josephine Mary to see her daughter Shereen Samson Vallabouy missing the Asian Track and Field Championships (ATF) in Bhubaneswar, India, due to a hamstring injury on Saturday.
Shereen, part of the women’s 4x100m quartet, hobbled out as she was warming up to go full throttle with Siti Fatimah Mohamad, S. Komalam Shally and Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli at the National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil.
Shereen was preparing to make her debut at the ATF, which begins on Thursday.
“She was so excited to participate. Things happen at the wrong time, I believe she will recover soon,” said Josephine.
“She injured her right hamstring and couldn’t walk properly. If it is a muscle injury we can expect fast recovery but if it is a muscle tear that would be a problem.
“We are meeting the doctor tomorrow (Monday). After the results we will decide on what’s next.”
The 19-year-old will be replaced by Nurul Faiza Asma Mazlan. Josephine is confident the team will do well despite the eleventh hour change.
“Faiza has been training along with the quartet for quite some time. I believe it would not be a problem and I’m hoping for the best,” she said.
Shereen, with Siti Fatimah, Komalam and Zaidatul, set a new national record of 45.19s to clinch gold in the Thailand Open in Bangkok last month.
