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