Malaysia Open 2010

Malaysia Open was held at Majlis Sukan Negara Stadium, Bukit Jalil. It was not held at the main stadium as there was a soccer match taking place during that weekend. Nonetheless, we saw athletes from Saudi, Qatar, Thailand, Taipei, Philippines and even Sri Lanka coming to compete at this meet. Singapore only sent a small contingent as most of the other National Athletes were tied down to the IVP Meet that week. Here are the results of the athletes from Singapore.

Amanda in lane 7 of the 100m Heats.

Amanda Choo 100m W (Semi 12.10s, Final 12.03s 7th),
Nadiah 100m W (13.00s),
Michelle Sng High Jump W (1.60m),
Rachel Yang Pole Vault W (No height),
Calvin Kang 100m M (Heats 10.85s, Semi 10.71s) & 200m M (22.90s),
Shalindran 200m M (Semi 22.23s ) & 400m M (Semi 51.33s),
Stefan Tseng Triple Jump M (15.09mm 3rd),
Sean Lim Pole Vault M (4.20m 3rd)
Izwan 100m M (Heats 11.05s) & 200m M (Semi 22.83, Finals 22.44)

Izwan in lane 5 in the 100m Heats

Stefan saying a few words on winning the bronze medal.

We also got Shalindran and Calvin Kang from Reactiv to share their experience with us.

Shalindran:
This Malaysia Open was very different for me. It was the first overseas meet whereby it was free and easy. Stefan, Calvin Kang, Calvin Cheng (went there to support and for a holiday) and I drove up together to KL to compete. We had our own accommodations as well staying minutes from KLCC. As soon as we checked in, we went to look for our team manager who was staying in a different hotel to get our number tags and find out what time our races are.

I wasn't too happy about my 400m race as I was aiming to break my Personal Best of 49.35secs. Being in the 3rd Semis, I watched how my competitors ran their races for the 400m. Especially the races with the Saudi guys in it. Those guys ran effortlessly hitting timings like 46 and 47seconds and it was simply a jaw dropping experience for me. As for my race, I was too carried away with the others in my heat. Everyone started so fast that it made me go slightly faster than my actual race plan. By the 200m mark I was in last place and the lactic acid had already kicked in. I managed to push through the last part and came in 4th out of the 5 athletes in that heat with a timing of 51.33secs. I was very dejected straight after the race. However, the day must still go on and I came back stronger for the 200m the next day in which I attained a new personal best timing.

Overall, I feel delighted that I got to compete overseas at least once this year and that I managed to achieve a personal best. However, I feel that more backing and aid needs to be given to athletes. It was the first time I had to fork out money to go overseas to compete and it's such a shame that a national athlete has to do so. I also feel that it was very messy on the Singapore side as many issues were settled last minute. Hopefully things between the management's wants and athlete's needs be straighten out in time to come.


Calvin Kang:
The competition was good and I didn't expect teams like the middle east to compete as they were also enrouting to the Asian games. This is the first time that Team Singapore's athletes all travelled up by themselves to compete and it was like a road trip and the 'pit stop' was to compete. We gave our best and carried on with what's in KL like visiting the KLCC aquaria. The main stadium that we were suppose to compete in was closed due to a soccer match so we had to resettle to the practice track. However, the track was good and I manage to run a decent time in the 100m.

Overall I would say that it was a fun trip and also a stepping stone for my progress in the century sprint to garner and boost that confidence I need in the 4x100m in the Asian Games Guangzhou on the 23rd nov.


To view more pictures,
Shalindran's Facebook Album

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Institute Varsity Polytechnic (IVP) Games Day 2

The IVP Track and field Meet 10/11 came to an yesterday, 30 Oct 2010 and once again athletes from Reactiv representing National University of Singapore, Republic Polytechnic and various other institutions took the track to test their mettle and race for new seasons’ and personal best timings.

400mH

The meet saw its first real action in the Men’s 400mH events where there was a close fight between Muhamad Zaki Sapari from Republic Polytechnic (training under SDSC) and Sharman Dustageer from NUS. There was little to separate the two in the early stages of the race, but it was obvious that Zaki had a good race tempo going and was having an easier time clearing the hurdles because of the height advantage he had over Sharman. It was a close fight but Zaki triumphed in the end, coming in first with a time of 56.09s to Sharman’s 56.69s. Fudin (coach Remy Gan) came in 15^th among the 17 hurdlers with a time of 68.10s. This is also his first attempt in the 400mH.

200m

In the 200m, Melanie Francisca and Abdul Hakeem both did personal best and seasons’ best timings respectively. Both athletes managed to qualify for the finals easily, coming in second in their respective heats to qualify automatically. Natalie from RP also came in 4^th in the finals with a time of 27.46s. She was racing with powerhouse national athletes and managed to beat the rest of the athletes from other institutions.

The Men’s 200m final boasted a strong field of competitors but Hakeem managed to hold his own, coming in 2^nd with a time of 22.08s; a strong showing from him given the fact that he had been away from competition for about half a year. Gary Yeo came in 1^st with a time of 21.64s. Marcus and Kyser from RP managed 26.40s and 24.54s respectively in their heats but couldn’t qualify for the finals. It was a struggle for Kyser to start racing so soon after a few months of break. He only had a month of training prior to the IVP.

The Women’s 200m final also saw a quality field of athletes competing. However, with a more aggressive start compared to what she did in the heats, Melanie was able to finish the race in 3^rd place with a personal best timing of 25.74s. Dipna Lim Prasad and Valerie Pereira produced stellar performances and fought each other to the finish to take gold and silver respectively with timings of 24.68s and 24.69s respectively.

Relays

The final events for the day were the Men’s and Women’s relays. It was an easy victory for the men from NUS in both relays, with their 4x100m team managing to break the Championship Record. The team was anchored by Abdul Hakeem. The Republic Polytechnic team ran well and came in 8^th in the final. Although the time was not faster than the heats, they did their best and some athletes having run than 1 event on the day were evidently worn out. RP came in 3^rd for the 4 x 400m, and the runners were Khalis, Zaki, Firdaus and Fudin.

In the Women’s relays, Nikita returned to the track to anchor NTU’s 4x400m team. She managed to sustain the lead they already had and brought the team to victory. Melanie ran in the 4x100 and 4x400m relays where NUS clinched silver medals. RP did not send any women relay team.

This marks the end of the season for most of the athletes. The winners of the events will be invited to race in the Asean University Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the end of the year. We hope that they will do well and make us proud.

Credits:
Written by Melanie and Alfred
Edited by Hakeem
Photos courtesy of Benedict Sirius Ong , Lance Tan Fana Farhanah and Singapore Athletic Association

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