Lee Hup Wei barely broke a sweat in defending his gold medal at the National Stadium in Vientiane yesterday but there was heartbreak for Noraseela Khalid, who was pipped on the line in the women’s 400m.

Zafril Zuslaini sprang a surprise with victory in the men’s 400m but it was not enough to prevent Malaysia’s worst showing in athletics in 34 years.

Not since the four-gold haul in 1975 in Jakarta has Malaysian athletics delivered less than seven gold medals while the six gold won here also fell short of the Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union’s target of eight.

Roslinda won the women’s pole vault in a new Sea Games record of 4.15m and needed only three vaults to secure gold after Vietnam’s silver medallist Le Thi Phuong managed to clear only 3.90m.

Despite failing at her first attempt at 3.90 — her opening height — Roslinda was hardly challenged in winning her third consecutive Sea Games gold.

“I was a little nervous at first after missing that one but I managed to calm myself. The Vietnamese girl appeared to be very confident, probably boosted by the fact that I only did 3.60m at the Asian Championships.

“But it was rainy and windy there while the hot condition here is more suited to me. I’m happy to have also got the Games record but I had also hoped to break my national record (4.40m).

“Anyway there is plenty to look forward to next year since I have already qualified for both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

“But I’ll need higher level competitions to prepare for those big events, not competitions like this where the motivation to go higher once you’ve won is hard to find,” said Roslinda, 27, whose best this year remains at 4.35m.

Hup Wei, too, did not need to be at his best as he won his second straight high jump gold with a 2.18m effort long after his challengers fell by the wayside.

“I was going after the Games record (2.24m) but I was having some trouble with my run-up today (yesterday). My technique was fine so I was confident of winning,” said Hup Wei, 22.

Noraseela, who won the 400m hurdles on Sunday, was denied a double after leading the 400m final with just 30 metres to go only to be edged near the finish by Thailand’s Trewadee Yongphan and Kay Khine Lwin of Myanmar.

Trewadee won in 54.16 seconds, ahead of Kay Khine Lwin (54.25) while Noraseela was left with the bronze after timing 54.32.

Cramps set in as Noraseela, 30, headed for the finish and she nearly swayed into the lane on her right as she struggled home.

“I ran too fast for the first 300 metres and used the wrong strategy. I felt fine with 100m to go but all of sudden I felt stiff and began cramping.
“I’m not used to running 400m flat but it’s still so frustrating to miss out on gold. It’s been a long year and this was my 30th race I think in all events. I’m just glad to have gotten through the year injury-free,” said Noraseela.

Malaysia were also edged out for gold in the men’s 1,500m when Vietnam’s Nguyen Dih Cuong completed a middle-distance double by winning in 3:46.58.

Jironi Riduan was again left with the silver medal after being overtaken in the home straight for the second time although he did clock a personal best of 3:47.34 while M. Vadivellan, who paced Jironi over the first two laps, earned bronze in 3:48.99.

The women’s 4×100m quartet finished fourth in 45.69 as Thailand won gold in 44.54 to finish top of the athletics medal tally with 13 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze.

Malaysia ended fifth with a haul of 6-6-4 behind Indonesia (7-7-7), Vietnam (7-4-10) and Philippines (7-2-4).

VIENTIANE, Dec 17 (Bernama) — National women’s pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu created history when she recorded a hat-trick by defending her gold medal for the third time in a row in her favourite event.

She also set a new SEA Games record when she exceeded the height of 4.15 metres, erasing her own record of 4.10 metres in Manila in 2005, although the record could not beat her national record of 4.40 metres.

“I tried to set a better record but here there are no strong rivals and what I need now is to compete in a more competitive game be it local or overseas.

“It is important for me to set a better record especially when I am preparing for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games,” said the 27-year-old athlete from Kuala Nerang, Kedah.

Another national pole vaulter Kathleen Ong was only able to settle for a fifth spot with a height of 3.60 metres.

National high-jumper Lee Hup Wei had no problem to defend his title with a record of 2.18 metres but failed to live up to his own personal record of 2.27 metres set in the China Open last year.

“I did not have the intention to set a new national record. Here, I tried to set a new championship record but my attempt failed as there were not many rivals,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Zafril Zuslaini won the men’s 400m race with a record of 47.11s pushing aside his main rival Heru Astriyanto from Indonesia and Jukkatip Pojaroen from Thailand, who respectively clocked 47.35s and 47.53s.

Noraseela Khalid, however, failed in her first attempt to contribute a gold medal for the women’s 400m event and only managed to bring home the bronze while 1,500m contributed a silver and a bronze each through Mohd Jironi Riduan and M. Vadivellan.

After four days of competition at the Laos SEA Games, the national athletics squad had ended the competition in fifth place by winning six gold medals, six silver and four bronze.

Apart from that, the national athletics squad successfully set two new championship records namely through Roslinda and Tan Song Hwa in women’s hammer throw event.

The medal tally achieved at the games was far off the target set by the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union original target of eight gold medals here.

Thailand had dominated the athletics events with 14 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze.

– BERNAMA

MALAYSIAN Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) deputy president Karim Ibrahim feels the sport is still on course to deliver eight gold medals despite the failure of the men’s 4×400m team to retain the title on Monday.

The quartet of Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin, Idris Zakaria, P. Yuvaraj and Zafril Zuslaini finished second behind Thailand.

With two days of athletics competition remaining, Malaysia have won three gold medals through Noraseela Khalid (women’s 400m hurdles), Teoh Boon Lim (men’s 20km walk) and Tan Song Hwa (women’s hammer).

But Karim, who is also the MAAU coaching committee chairman, feels that the team can still better the haul of seven gold medals achieved in Korat two years ago.

“There is no change from our target of winning eight gold medals even though the relay team failed on Monday,” he said.

“I feel the men’s 1,500m (tomorrow) can compensate for the defeat as we have two strong runners (M. Vadivellan and Mohd Jironi Riduan) for the event.

“The bulk of the gold medals will come on the final day (tomorrow), when most of our favourites will be competing.”

Besides Vadivellan and Mohd Jironi, Malaysia’s other gold medal contenders who will see action tomorrow are Lee Hup Wei (men’s high jump), Roslinda Samsu (women’s pole vault) and Noraseela (women’s 400m).

Today, past Games champions Mohd Robani Hassan (2005 Manila) and Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian (2007 Korat) are the best bets to secure a gold in the men’s 110m hurdles.

Meanwhile, Karim was upset over Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin’s displeasure and outburst after only finding out in Vientiane that he will not feature in the men’s 400m race.

Teenager Yuvaraj has been selected to race alongside Zafril in the event tomorrow.

“None of the 400m runners qualified on merit for the event. How can Zaiful claim that he was dropped when he did not beat the qualifying mark in the first place?’ said Karim.

“The national coaches selected the best two runners for the event based on current form, which is Zafril and Yuvaraj.

“Zaiful was among the top two in the country after the Malaysian Open (in October) but his form dipped after that when he suffered a heel injury. We held a special trial just before coming to Vientiane to determine the best two runners and Zaiful lost to Yuvaraj by a considerable margin.

A DOGGED determination to get her hands on a SEA Games medal reaped extra rewards for hammer thrower Tan Song Hwa.

HURDLER Noraseela Khalid ran the toughest race of her life to deliver Malaysia’s first athletics gold medal of the Games in the women’s 400m hurdles at the National Sports Complex Main Stadium yesterday.

There was a big question mark on Noraseela’s participation after she suffered an Achilles injury on her right leg during the final day of training in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday.

Despite not being able to train properly for the past three days, Noraseela opted to grit her teeth and bear the pain to race in her pet event.

She surprised everyone, including herself, by cruising to victory in 56.99 — beating arch-rival and defending champion Amornrat Winatho of Thailand, who took silver in 58.00. Nguyen Thi Bac of Vietnam took the bronze in 1:00.31.

“It is a miracle that I was able to run, let alone win today. I have to thank the contingent’s doctors for doing a wonderful job to get me ready to race,” said Noraseela, who was given a painkiller jab prior to the start the event.

“I did not expect to win in such a fast time as I ran a cautious race. I could have shattered the Games record if I had pushed a little harder.”

She missed out on the Games record of 56.78 by a mere 0.21 seconds.

It was the 2009 Asian Track and Field championship silver medallist’s third triumph in the 400m hurdles in the SEA Games series.

She bagged the gold in 1999 (Brunei) and 2003 (Hanoi). She took silver in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur and did not compete in 2005 (Manila) and 2007 (Korat) because of injury.

“I was determined to compete and win in the 400m hurdles in Vientiane as this is my event and the country needed the gold medal,” said Noraseela.

“But I have not made up my mind on competing in the 400m (on Thursday). I need to seek the doctors’ advice and see how my heel copes with the strain of today’s race.”

In the men’s shot putt, Adi Alifuddin Hussin delivered a surprise when he shattered the 14-year-old national record to take the silver. The 21-year-old from Terengganu’s final throw of 16.92m bettered the record of 16.67 set by his coach, Mohd Nazar Abdul Rahim, in the 1995 Malaysian Open in Penang.

“I was not thinking about winning a medal here. My only goal was to improve on my personal best performance, and delivering the silver was an added bonus,” said the Category B athlete, whose previous best was 16.46m at the Indian Grand Prix earlier this year.

Thailand’s Catchawat Polyiam took the gold with a 17.59m effort, rewriting his own Games record of 17.43m while his compatriot, Kajorn Sathaporn, finished third on 15.75m.

Indonesian Suryo Agung Wibowo cemented his status as the fastest man in South-East Asia with a 10.17 in the blue riband event of the athletics programme. He rewrote his own Games record of 10.25 set in Korat two years ago.

Thailand’s Wachara Sondee (10.30) and Indonesian Fadlin (10.61) took the silver and bronze respectively.

National sprinter Mohamad Noor Imran completed the race in 10.71 for sixth place.

Vietnam secured a 1-2 finish in the women’s 100m through Vu Thi Huong (11.34) and Le Ngoc Phuong (11.74) with Thai Laphassaporn Tawoncharoen (11.76) securing the bronze.

Malaysian sprinters Norjannah Hafiszah and Nurul Sarah Kadir, who both qualified for the final, just missed out on the medals. Norjannah was placed fourth in 11.82 and Nurul was fifth in 11.83.

KUALA LUMPUR: Hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian has not recovered fully from a hamstring injury and he is out of the Laos SEA Games.

Team manager A. Subramaniam said that it was unfortunate that the 22-year-old Rayzam would not get to defend the 110m hurdles title, which he won in a Games record time of 13.91 in Korat two years ago.

“Rayzam is still nursing the injury he suffered in the Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil in October. But we will still have two contenders for medals in the event in Laos — Mohd Robani (Hassan) and Mohd Faiz (Mohamed),” he said.

Subramaniam said that Robani and Faiz would compete as Category B athletes of the contingent after failing to beat the qualifying mark of 13.95.

Robani, who skipped the Korat Games because of injury, clocked a season best of 14.01 in the Asian Track and Field (ATF) championships in Guangzhou last month. Faiz, the bronze medallist in Korat, has a season best of 14.24.

The MAAU will bear the expenses for Category B athletes and they will get a reimbursement from the Olympic Council of Malaysia if the athletes bag a silver medal.

Subramaniam added that they were banking on Robani, who was the winner in the 2005 Manila Games, to deliver the gold this time.

“Robani is an experienced hurdler and we believe he will clock a good time to win the event,” he said.

Meanwhile, Subramaniam said that pole vaulter Kathleen Ong had failed to make good a chance to get into the team for the Laos Games.

“We gave her the chance to prove herself in the Singapore Open on Sunday by clearing 3.90m but she only managed 3.60m. Therefore, we will only have Roslinda (Samsu) competing in the event,” he said.

The MAAU have set an eight-gold medal target for the Laos Games. In the 2007 Korat Games, Malaysia bagged seven gold medals.

Rayzam won the first semi-finals in 14.21 but could not race in the final because of a hamstring injury.

Robani, the 2005 Manila Games gold medallist, also qualified for the final but did not run because of a calf injury. Faiz, the bronze medallist in Korat, won the final in 14.20.

The 22-year-old Rayzam said that he thought that his chances of competing in the Laos Games were all over after the failure to meet the qualifying mark in the Malaysian Open, which was the last meet for athletes to earn places in the team for the biennial Games.

“Thanks to the MAAU (Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union) for giving me and my team-mates, Robani and Faiz, another lifeline to qualify for the SEA Games. I hope that I will not blow the chance,” said Rayzam, who skipped the Asian Track and Field (ATF) championships in Guangzhou last week to concentrate on his preparations for the outing in Singapore.

Rayzam, who clocked a season’s best of 13.98, added that he only started training two weeks ago.

Robani competed in the ATF meet and he clocked a season’s best of 14.01 in the semi-finals. He finished fifth in the final in 14.06.

ROSLINDA Samsu has refuted concerns that her form is on the slide after below-par performances in her last two competitions.

The pole vaulter relinquished her title at the Asian Championships last week after failing to clear 3.80m, which followed her no-height posting at the Malaysian Open last month.

Roslinda said she had just recovered from fever when she competed at the Malaysian Open and adverse weather conditions prevented her from going higher in Guangzhou, China.

“I know there has been a lot said about my performances and some people have even asked if there was a problem with my training.

“I would just like to state that there were external factors involved and it has nothing to do with my performances.

“In Guangzhou, the weather was so bad that my request to the referee to postpone the pole vault was rejected. It was just too dangerous to just too dangerous to compete because the wind was unpredictable.

“That was why I came unstuck at 3.80m, which was actually a relief, although it was just my bad luck that rain started to let up when the bar moved to 4.00m,” said Roslinda yesterday.

Roslinda is now looking forward to competing at the Laos Sea Games where she is the odds-on favourite in her event.

But first she will warm-up at the Singapore Open in two weeks time to get into the rhythm.

“My preparation has been going fine and I will jump at the Singapore Open before going to the Sea Games. God willing, I’ll bring the gold medal home from Laos,” said Roslinda, one of only six Malaysian athletes capable of winning gold in Vientiane.

2009KUALA LUMPUR: Noraseela Khalid, still on a high after winning a silver in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Asian Track and Field (ATF) Championships in Guangzhou on

Friday, has set sights on a SEA Games gold medal next.
And the 30-year-old is glad to have proven that age does not matter as she clocked 57.15 in China to take the silver medal - her second in the ATF following a similar feat in Manila in 2005.

Noraseela, who has also bagged the bronze medal in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, has missed the last two SEA Games because of injuries.

Prior to that, she won the gold medal in Brunei (1999) and Vietnam (2003) and a silver in Kuala Lumpur (2001).
But for the Laos SEA Games next month, the Rawang hurdler has set herself a lofty target.

“My six-month training stint in South Africa earlier this year has certainly paid off. I definitely want to sign off the year with a gold in Laos,” said Noraseela.

Had it not been for Noraseela, Malaysia would have ended their ATF campaign in Guangzhou empty-handed.
Even Lee Hup Wei and Roslinda Samsu - defending champions in the men’s high jump and women’s pole vault respectively - failed to deliver.

The 22-year-old Hup Wei, who holds the national record of 2.27m, could only clear 2.15m to finish fifth while 27-year-old Roslinda, who has the personal best of 4.40m, managed 3.60m to finish fifth as well.

Meanwhile in the men’s 4×400m, the quartet of Mohd Idris Zakaria, P. Yuvaaraj, Mohd Zafril Mohd Zuslaini and Mohd Saiful Zainal Abidin clocked 3:11.37 to finish seventh.
Overall, it has been a disappointing performance by the 22athletes - comprising 12 men and 10 women - as none managed to even surpass their personal bests.