KUCHING: The Sarawak athletics challenge in the forthcoming Sukma is likely to retain its five gold haul by adding one or two more if the recent Sarawak Open athletics championships held last month is anything to go by. Apart from a few events where the athletes have beaten the qualifying mark for the Sukma competitions there is nothing to shout about. Ngu Ing Biao in the hammerthrow event and Wong Nie Nie in the women javelin event are the only newcomer at the Sarawak Open meet who had qualified for the Sukma Games in Perak apart from the established Sukma stars like Grace Wong in the hammer and discus and Queenie Ting in the discus. Most emphatic win was in the men and women hammerthrow events where Ing Biao beat the qualifying mark of 47.41m by throwing to a distance of 50.27m to qualify for the Sukma in Perak this September. The Sarikei-borned Ing Biao who won discus gold in the recent national MSSM meet is the new successor to last Sukma gold medallist, Jason Wong who is not eligible for the Games.
Also impressed in the same event is Sibu challenger Ling Siew Hong who also made it to the Sukma with a 49.78m effort to affirm Sarawak’s domination in the event. Wong Nie Nie, if you can call her a new athlete, was injured in the last Sukma held in Kuching as the Sarawak challenge failed to finish on the podium but came back with a vengeance to throw the spear to an impressive distance of 45.39m which is further than last Sukma winner Nadzirul Bakri Hamid of Johor who achieved a 37.30m. Indisputable SEA Games champion, Grace Wong Xiu Mei only did a 50.70m to win the hammerthrow event – a far cry from her SEA Games record of 59.24m but – together with Florence Wong Poh Yee who did a 41.30m and Aileenna Thaipong from Sarikei whose throw was 39.90m – was more than the distance of 36.3m set up for the Games. In a meet without top senior athletes like sprinter Jonathan Nyepa, Nixson Kennedy, hammerthrower Jackie Wong Siew Cheer, Sarawak was devoid of some of the top stars at the State championships meet but a few performances did raise some eyebrows.
Also absent from the meet were Peninsular-based athletes like gold medalists Mohd Rizzua in the men’s hurdles, Quek Lee Yong in the 400m hurdles, Norris Foo – a sprinter in the 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles events but took part in the heptathlon in the last Sukma and are still eligible for the coming Sukma. Also absent from the meet was KL SEA Games bronze medallist and last Sukma Games 2016 silver medallist in the men’s discus was Abdul Rahman Lee, who is vying for the gold medal this time.
However, Queenie Ting did turn up and threw the discus to a creditable 43.88m beating Grace Wong whose at event was in the hammer, to a second place in 36.76m with both beating the qualifying mark of 33.25m. In the men’s shot put, Kong Chin Poh from Sarikei tossed the iron to a distance of 13.81m. Also joining him in qualifying are Sim Quan Ying from Miri who was closely behind with a 13.60m throw while even third placed Jonah Chang Anak Ringa beat the qualifying mark with a 12.79m. In the absence of Abdul Rahman, Ngu Ing Biao won his second gold in the discus with a throw of 42.36m beating the qualifying mark of 37.97m and his close rival, Jefry Chan from Labuan who was measured at 41.80m.
There were disappointment in the 100m for the Sarawak point of view as the top two were invited athletes from Perak and Sabah who took the first, second and third placings and also in the men’s javelin where Sarawak were traditionally strong in the event. Muhd Nazrul Naim Azram from Perak came in first to clock 10.70s beating Sabahan P. Darma Richard Harry who beat Mohd Afif Zulhusmi Alet from Unimas, Mohd Arif Farhan from Sabah and Alvin JOstine from Miri, with all four finishers clocking an identical 10.97s in a photo-finish. In the men’s 200m, Mohamad Airf turned the table on Mohd Nazrul who came first with a time of 22.10s with the Perak spriner finishing in 22.59s while P. Darren from Sabah was third this time clocking 22.94s.
Sabah athlete Andre Arura @ Anuar also shone in the meet when he jumped to a new Sarawal meet record of 7.35m in the long jump beating Syed Muhamad Nizar bin Syed Ishak from 1Division Forces team with 6.71m while Khamis Rahman bin Pandak from UiTM was third with a distance of 6.71m. Sabah athlete also dominated in the men’s high jump when Mohd Eizlan Dahalan and teammate Mazlan Mosrin both cleared over 2m with Mohd Eizlan winning with a higher 2.07m. Sarawak’s Vincent Lau Li Jan from SMK Tinggi in Sarikei could only managed a 1.88m while Jerome Chua from Kuching only cleared 1.80m. The only bright spot came in the women’s long jump when Mandy Goh registered a 5.43m which is enough to beat the qualifying mark of 5.13m.
