By Martin Yee
KUCHING: Sarawak is witnessing the rise of another star in the throwing event in Jonah Chang Rigan, who could be as good as household names Grace Wong Siew Mei and Jackie Wong.
Jonah, 19, who hails from Sarikei is among three athletes going to the U-20 World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia from Aug 2-7.
The other two are compatriot Alvin Yap Zhi Xian, a hurdler, and SEA Games 100m sprinter Muhd Azeem Fahmi from Perak.
The list was announced by national coach Manshahar Jalil.
Jonah, a Segi College student, won his first international title a few years ago in the shot-put at the Asean schools meet in the Philippines.
He is currently undergoing training in Slovakia together with fellow Sukma athlete Kong Chin Poh. The camp, which ends on July 22, is sponsored by the Sarawak Sports Corporation (SSC).
Jonah, who is aiming to win gold at the Kuala Lumpur Sukma this September, recorded a personal best of 18.06m.
He achieved the mark at the International Savings Bank meet in Germany.
Alvin, on the other hand, qualified for the U-20 World Youth Championships with a time of 14.02secs in the 110m hurdles at the MSSM meet.
The 18-year-old also won gold in the 110m hurdles, 200m hurdles, 4x400m relay and he even pipped SEA Games 100m champion Azeem to win the 4x100m relay.
The Siburan lad, who completed his Form Five at the Tabuan Jaya Sports School, represented Sarawak at the MSSM U-15 in 2015 and the MSSM U-18 in 2018 where he clocked 13.94secs in the 110m hurdles and 24.27secs in the 200m hurdles.
He will be Sarawak’s brightest hope in the 110m hurdles at the Kuala Lumpur Sukma – an event that was dominated by fellow Sarawakian Mohd Rizzua Haizad, who is now a national and SEA Games athlete.
