SEPANG, Aug 13 — The national athletics closed championships from Aug 16 to 18 is the final platform for athletes to qualify for the SEA Games in the Philippines in November.
Athletics chief coach Mohd Manshahar Abd Jalil said he believed that following the meet the number of athletes joining the national contingent under category A would be finalised, after only 15 have been listed so far.
He said the 15 listed under category A were gold medallists in the 2017 Games in Kuala Lumpur, comprising 12 men and three women.
“They include men’s and women’s hammer throwers Jackie Wong and Grace Wong, (triple jumper) Muhammad Hakimi Ismail and several athletes who won gold previously.
“After this championship, we expect the number of athletes representing the country for the SEA Games to be between 25 and 30. Everything is going according to plan and the athletes are ready to fight for their places at the final selection venue this week,” he told a press conference at the National Sports Council here today.
Manshahar said he is confident that national sprint king Khairul Hafiz Jantan would improve on his performance to dip below 10.30s and vie for a place in the 100m event.
So far Johnathan Nyepa is in the best position with a 10.37s timing, the third fastest in Southeast Asia.
“Khairul Hafiz’s position is not safe yet. Having just recovered from injury, he clocked an improved time of 10.70s at Universiade in Napoli, before improving further to 10.50s in his second championship this year, the 32nd Kuala Lumpur Open in early August.
“Athletes who wish to qualify for the SEA Games need to be ranked in the top three in Southeast Asia. If Khairul Hafiz can break this, he will be the first choice,” he said.
Khairul Hafiz won gold in the 2017 edition with a time of 10.38s.
In the women’s sprint, he said, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli needed to work hard to catch up with the Filipino athletes.
“Our women athletes are way behind. We have to be realistic because there are two very fast Filipinas, with times of 10.41s and 10.42s compared to Zaidatul’s 10.65s, which places her sixth in Southeast Asia.”
He said Zaidatul Husniah, who is training in the United States, might have to be sent to the games under category B.
At the 2017 games, Malaysia won eight gold medals in athletics. — Bernama
