Athletics: Three sprinters book Sea Games berths

MOHD Noor Imran Hadi was crowned the country’s new sprint king at the National Closed Championships when he led Mohd Latif Nyat in a Johor 1-2 finish in the men’s 100 metres at the Utama Stadium in Kangar yesterday.

An added bonus for Noor Imran was qualification for the Korat Sea Games after he clocked 10.41 seconds — the best time by a Malaysian this year — in the morning’s semi-final heats to beat the qualifying mark of 10.52.

With the pressure off, Noor Imran cruised to the gold medal in 10.62 in the evening final ahead of Latif (10.66) and Danial Azuan Amar Nand of Perlis (10.78) against a headwind of 1.6m/s.

Latif and Terengganu’s Zabidi Ghazali, who came in fourth in the final, also booked their Korat berths in the semi-finals when they clocked 10.46 and 10.42 respectively, while 100m junior gold medallist Zabidi Ahmad (10.51) of Terengganu has put himself in the running for a relay team spot.

Nazmizan Muhammad, the 2003 Vietnam Sea Games sprint double gold medallist, will not have a chance to repeat that feat when he finished a poor seventh in 10.93.
National chief coach Hanapah Nasir said the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union selection committee would still need to confirm the runners for Korat.

There was added celebration for Johor when Siti Fatimah Muhammad won the women’s 100m in 11.80s, just short of the 11.63 qualifying mark for Korat. Hanapiah said the 21-year-old sprinter’s name will also be put forward as a promising prospect.

"Siti Fatimah and (silver medallist) Norjannah (Hafiszah Jamaludin) became the first local women sprinters to go under 12 seconds in a long time. " he said.

Kuala Lumpur’s Ngew Sin Mei won the women’s long jump with a 5.92m effort as she works her way to fitness after recovering from a host of injuries.

RESULTS — Men’s 100m: 1 Mohd Noor Imran Hadi (Joh) 10.62s; 2 Mohd Latif Nyat (Joh) 10.66; 3 Danial Azuan Amar Nand (Per) 10.78.

Pole Vault: 1 Khairul Ikhsan Shah (Pk) 4.20m; 2 Mohd Aiyuha Sulaiman (NS) 4.20; 3 Hafizuddin Shahidan (Pah) 4.20.

Discus: 1 Adi Alifuddin Hussin (Ter) 40.94m; 2 Mohd Nasrul Nazam (Sel) 39.28; 3 Mohd Hafiz Hashim (Pah) 38.26.

Women’s 100m: 1 Siti Fatimah Muhamad (Joh) 11.80s; 2 Norjanah Hafiszah Jamaludin (Pen) 11.89; 3 Nurul Sarah Abdul Kadir (Mal) 12.31.

400m: 1 K. Ganthimanthi (Pah) 58.00s; 2 Norhazwanie Norzan (Ked) 59.06; 3 Vally Michael (Mal) 59.32.

Long Jump: 1 Ngew Sin Mei (KL) 5.92m; 2 Siti Zubaidah Adabi 5.64 (Joh); 3 Laura Lorina Petrus (AF) 5.49.

NST