Choo Kang Ni bagged discus gold in Memorial Meeting, Kazakhstan

Connie Choo Kang Ni secured discus throw gold medal during the 1st day of the World Athletics World Continental Tour Bronze or "Gusman Kosanov Memorial" 2021 in Almaty, Kazakhstan (19 June).

Recently nursing her injury, the 27-year-old multiple SEA Games silver medalist threw a distance of 43.65m. Clearly, she is attempting to regain her regular form. Her personal best of 47.91m was set in 2017 SEA Games.

Second place was Yulianna Shukina of Uzbekistan in 38.90m, while Alina Vorontsova of Kazakhstan third in 36.78m.

Connie Choo won women's discus throw in Kazakhstan Open 2021

In the men's 100m, Jonathan Nyepa finished in second place for silver medal, clocking 10.64 (-1.4). He was leading to the 80m mark before being overtaken by Kazakhstan's Vitaliy Zems who took the gold in 10.57.

The women's century dash event was won by Kazakhstan's former Asian champion Olga Safronova in 11.60.

Iran's Sajjad Hashemiahangari clocked 45.85 to clinch the gold handily. Malaysia Muhammad Ilham Suhaimi was in 4th place in the men's 400m, setting 48.47.

Kazakhstan's David Yefremov won the men's 110m hurdles in 13.66, followed by his teammate Yevgeniy Prokudin in second place (13.84). Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian was in 3rd place, clocking 14.18. 

The winner of women's high jump was Nadezhda Dubovitskaya of Kazakhstan, clearing 1.96m. SEA Games champion Yap Sean Yee cleared a good height of 1.80m to place in 5th position.

Elsewhere, world class thrower Shahin Mehrdelan of Iran threw 20.27m in men's discuss for gold, with the second place winner of this event was at 12.53m only (Ravil Mansurbayeb of Kazakhstan). Ildar Akhmadiv of Tajikistan won the men's long jump in 7.46m. In men's discus throw, Yevgeniy Labutov of Kazakhstan took the gold in 51.46m. Sharifa Daronova of Uzbekistan took the victory in women's triple jump (13.01m).

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Extreme weather kills 21 elite runners in China ultramarathon

Twenty one elite runners were reportedly died in a 100-km ultra-marathon race in China. They were being hit by a sudden, and extreme weather.

The trail event, named officially as Jiangnan 100 Ultra Trail, was held for its 4th edition in Baiyin City (around Yellow River Stone Forest Park), Gansu province on Saturday (22 May 2021).

The athletes died from hypothermia or excessive exposure of cold temperature as a result of the freezing weather at high altitude, nearing 0°C. Initially, the runners had passed out from the cold temperature. 

Elite Chinese runner Jing Liang, 31, was among those who died. He won all three previous editions of the race.

Such tragedy was thought to be the "most brutal" to ever hit the ultrarunning event. 

Reported that, the race started at 1.00pm (mid-day). Based on a weather report, it was expected that some mild changes in weather pattern would occur. 

However, the weather changed out of nowhere and deteriorated, blasting with heavy freezing rain (with ice) and gale winds. It was virtually storms. 

The disaster occurred at altitudes of 2000m to 3000m above the sea level, approximately at distances between 21km to 30km.

A total of 171 runners took part in the trail race. They were expected to complete the race in 19 to 30+ hours, on average. They wore standard ultra-running t-shirts and shorts.

News and photos courtesy of: 163.com, scmp.com, statistik.d-u-v.org 

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Queenie Ting sets 48.56m to break discus throw national record

SEA Games bronze medalist Queenie Ting Kung Ni  threw a distance of 48.56m to set a new national record in women's discus throw today (11 April) during the 2021 Malaysian Grand Prix meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The 23-year-old eclipsed the previous national record of 47.91m set in the 2017 SEA Games by her  training partner, Connie Choo.

Both are currently under the guidance of coach Mohamad Ali Hamid.

The Physical Education student in UPM improved over 2-metres of her personal best of 46.51m she recorded en-route to win the 2019 national athletics championships.

Queenie Ting Kung Ni

She opened her competition in a dismal throw of 39.70m and improved the mark with 44.27m in the second throw. 

She fouled in her third throw, during which a former national record holder Yap Jeng Tzan (PB: 47.79m) took the lead in 44.82m - her best throw of the competition (3rd place).

As the competition progresses, Queenie fouled again, but improved on her mark to 45.45m in her 5th attempt, before setting the record in the 6th or last attempt.

Connie, who was the winner of previous GP meeting in 2019 (44.39m), and is nursing her injured leg, made a 45.53m throw in the 4th attempt, which surpassed Yap's for second placing.

Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman Lee, a training partner of both Queenie and Connie, won the men's discus throw in 48.50m.

Elsewhere, Ngu Jia Xin won the women's high jump on a countback over Yap Sean Yee (PB 1.83m), both were registering 1.76m. Heptathlete Norliyana Kamaruddin was in 3rd place (1.72m).

Jonah Chang Rigan sets national U20 record in shot put

Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli threw 16.47m to win the men's shot put. Very near trailing the Paralympic champion was Jonah Chang Rigan, 18, who managed a final throw of 16.45m - a new national junior record for a 7.26kg implement.

Selected results (day 2).

MEN

400m

1. Muhammad Ilham Suhaimi 49.06

2. Luqmanul Hakim Khairul Akmal 49.26

3. Ruslem Zikry Putra Roseli 49.57

4. Cheah Yau Chung 50.09

5. Wan Muhammad Fazri Wan Zahari 50.76

Heat 1

1. Wan Muhammad Fazri Wan Zahari 50.01

2. Abdul Wafiy Roslan 50.14

3. Muhammad Aammar Aaman Nor Azmi 50.32

Heat 2

1. Muhammad Ilham Suhaimi 49.08

2. Ruslem Zikry Putra Roseli 49.18

3. Cheah Yau Chung 49.88

4. Muhammad Saiful Safwan Saifuddin 50.21

Heat 3

1. Luqmanul Hakim Khairul Akmal 49.21

2. Tharshan Shanmugam 50.02

3. Khairul Hafiz Jantan 50.03

110m hurdles (w?)

1. Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian 14.50

2. Benedict Ian Gawok 14.78

3. Muhammad Rizzua Haizad Muhammad 14.86

4. Wong Chun Yee 15.01

5. Mohd Fazillah Khamis 15.42

5000m

1. Ahmad Luth Hamizan 15:58.16

2. Dinesh Verma 16:02.98

3. Muhaizar Mohamad 16:04.26

4. Nik Fakaruddin Ismail 16:18.22

5. Daren James Naim 16:19.32

6. Zulkhairi Shahrim 16:20.55

Triple Jump

1. Muhammad Hakimi Ismail 14.52

2. Alvin Roland 14.35

3. Muhammad Hanif Che Hamid 14.03

Shot Put

1. Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli 16.47

2. Jonah Chang Rigan 16.45 / NJR (7.26kg)

3. Kong Chin Poh 15.61

4. Farm Loong Deng 15.60

5. Kamal Farhan A.Rahman 15.04

Discus Throw

1. Abdul Rahman Lee 48.50

2. Tan Jing Cheng 40.76

3. Muhammad Firyal Asyqil Mohd Zawawi 37.30

WOMEN

100m hurdles (w?)

1. Norliayana Kamaruddin 15.49

2. Juriani Mat Rodzi 15.66

3. Nur Shaqirah Cik Mat Kilau 15.66

4. Nur Syafiqah Anis Abu Bakar 16.31

High Jump

1. Ngu Jia Xin 1.76

2. Yap Sean Yee 1.76

3. Norliyana Kamaruddin 1.72

4. Nini Sharmiza Salim 1.60

Long Jump

1. Kirthana Ramasamy 6.00

2. Siti Zubaidah Adabi 5.84

3. Nurul Ashikin Abbas 5.70

4. Winnie Eng May Xin 5.40

Discus Throw

1. Queenie Ting Kung Ni 48.56 / NR

2. Connie Choo Kang Ni 45.53

3. Yap Jeng Tzan 44.82

4. Nur Atiqah Sufiah Md Hanizam 42.07

Day 1 story and results HERE

Complete results HERE

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Young sprinter Arsyad Md Saad takes 100m victory at Malaysian Grand Prix 2021

Young sprinters Arsyad Md Saad and Azreen Nabila Alias emerged fastest man and woman sprinters, respectively at the 2021 Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur today (10 April 2021).

The 19-year-old Arsyad, despite running into a slight breeze, set his personal best of 10.64 to win the century dash ahead of national sprinter Jonathan Nyepa (10.70) and sprint sensation Azeem Fahmi (10.85).

He is coached by Poad Kassim who trained the 100m's SEA Games gold medalists (Khairul Hafiz Jantan and Haiqal Hanafi) in SSTMI (sports school).

Azeem won the heats (10.67, +1.3) over Jonathan (10.70) who stumbled at the start. Arsyad ran 10.76 (+0.4)  to win the second heat.

Jonathan Nyepa (left), Arsyad Saad, and Azeem Fahmi (right)

Azreen Nabila, 20, even though she seemed to have muscle cramp towards the end, completed her race in 12.00s just ahead of experienced sprinters Komalam Shally (12.01) and Siti Fatimah Mohamad (12.12).

Meanwhile, Kirthana Ramasamy won the women's triple jump in 13.21m, ahead of her teammate Nurul Ashikin Abbas who achieved 13.00m, her first 13m jump legally.

Iskandar Alwi won the men's pole vault in 4.85m; he was unable to clear a 5.00m height.

Lee Hup Wei tore his jumping shoe during the high jump competition and decided to "stop competing." It was after he successfully made a bar clearance of 2.05m.Youngster Eizlan Dahalan won the men's high jump in the same height of 2.05m. 

In hammer throws, Grace Wong broke her own national record with a distance of 62.48m, while Jackie Wong threw 66.47m to win the men's event. Read here for more details.

Selected Results:

MEN

100m Final (w?)

1. Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat 10.64

2. Jonathan Nyepa 10.70

3. Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi 10.85

4. Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismail 10.91

5. Kwong Kar Jun 11.00

Heat 1 (+1.3)

1. Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi 10.67

2. Jonathan Nyepa 10.70

3. Kwong Kar Jun 10.92

4. Sahrul Samali 11.07

Heat 2 (+0.4)

1. Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat 10.76

2. Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismail 10.84

800m

1. Wan Muhammad Fazri Wan Zahari 1:55.82

2. Avinasher Austin 1:56.44

3. Anas Ariffin 1:57.03

4. Muhammad Amirul Arif 1:57.17

5. Royson Vincent 1:57.93

6. Berchmans Arruldass 1:59.66

7. Muhammad Thaqif Lufti Azman 2:01.22

8. Jeff Lim Zhe Yu 2:02.13

High Jump

1. Mohamad Eizlan Dahalan 2.05

2. Lee Hup Wei 2.05

3. Norshafiee Mohd Shah 1.96

4. Mohamad Farhan Azman 1.96

Pole Vault

1. Iskandar Alwi 4.85

2. Muhammad Naufal Sharul Afzam 4.45

3. Aiman Suffian Bahrizal 3.55

Hammer Throw

1. Jackie Wong Siew Cheer 66.47

2. Sadat Marzuki Ajisan 59.94

WOMEN

100m Final (w?)

1. Azreen Nabil Alias 12.00

2. Komalam Shally Selveratnam 12.01

3. Siti Fatimah Mohamad 12.12

4. Nurul Faezah Asma Mazlan 12.19

800m

1. Savinder Kaur 2:14.23

2. Padhmaloshini Jayaseelan 2:25.73

Triple Jump

1. Kirthana Ramasamy 13.21

2. Nurul Ashikin Abbas 13.00

3. Nur Fatin Najiha Mohd Aaziz 11.55

Hammer Throw

1. Grace Wong Xiu Mei 62.48 / National Record

2. Nurul Hidayah Lukman 49.98

Second day of the meet will be held tomorrow (11 April).

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Grace Wong breaks her own national record with 62.48m hammer throw at 2021 GP Malaysia Open

Grace Wong Xiu Mei broke her own hammer national record by throwing the iron ball at a distance of 62.48m to win the 2021 Malaysian Grand Prix meeting at National Training Centre, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur today (10 April).

The 21-year-old former SEA Games gold medalist opened her competition with a >60m-throw (60.19m), down to 59.52m in her second throw, and followed by the national record effort. 

She then fouled in her fourth attempt; but the next two rounds was over-60m throw again (61.13m and 60.55m), showing a good consistency of her throws.

Such feats indicate that she still has more to show in the coming periods.

Grace Wong breaks hammer national record with 62.48m

The next local competition for Grace and other national athletes will be in June when the national athletics championships will be held.

Grace's throw at the Malaysian Grand Prix today is also 1 cm less than the Southeast Asian record with the best being 62.49m by Thailand's Mingkamon Koomphon.

Nurul Hidayah Lukman was in second place in 49.98m. Winnie Eng May Xin "ensured the minimum number participants" for a competition and was third with 17.95m.

Meanwhile, Jackie Wong Siew Cheer won the men's hammer throw event with a distance of 66.47m. Jackie's best throw and national records stand at 68.22m.  His training partner Sadat Marzuki Ajisan registered 59.94m in second place. 

Their teammates Farm Loong Deng (19.53m) and Kamal Farhan Abdul Rahman (16.03m) took part and registered their first (and best) throws in the hammer throw competition.

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Nauraj Singh clears 2.20m to break high jump indoor record

Three-time SEA Games gold medalist Nauraj Singh Randhawa smashed his national indoor record during an indoor track meeting at Vienna, Austria (30 Jan 2021).

He cleared a height of 2.20m in his third attempt  to finish in second place behind German Tobias Potye, a world cup bronze medalist who registered 2.26m.

Nauraj, who turned 29 three days earlier improved his two-year old record by 1 cm, which he set in Chemnitz, Germany in 2019. 

Like other athletes, he was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has not competed since the SOPAC meeting in Sydney in February last year, where he jumped 2.20m, the same height he achieved yesterday.

He holds the current national outdoor record of 2.30m from 2016.  

Progression of Malaysian indoor record.

 • 2.15 ..... Lou Cwee Peng ... Toronto ... 1993
 • 2.15 ..... Lee Hup Wei ... Ostrava ... 2012
 • 2.15 ..... Lee Hup We ... Vienna ... 2012
 • 2.19 ..... Nauraj Singh Randhawa ... Chimnetz ... 2019
 • 2.21 ..... Nauraj Singh Randhawa ... Vienna ... 2021

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Effects of Home Confinement on Training Habits and Injury in Long Distance Runners

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, policies of social distancing became commonplace in different places or countries. 

Athletes who are typically active and 'busy' (training and competition) were suddenly required to stay at home.

The influences of such restrictions in training habits and injury in youth long-distance runners were unknown.

A recent study by Bazett-Jones and colleagues (link below) found that COVID-19 social distancing restrictions significantly impacted youth long-distance runners' training habits, injuries, and care seeking behaviors. 

Specifically, during the confinement period, youth long-distance runners decreased their training activities (as follows), possibly due to extrinsic factors such as motivation.

• Weekly running distance
• Number of weekly runs
• Number of weekly hard runs 

Interestingly, the number of reported injuries decreased significantly for the group during the COVID-19 quarantine, and cited to be due to decreases in training volume and intensity.

Running habits and injury incidence before and during COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

Number of self-reported injuries before and during COVID-19 restrictions by location and injury type.

From one perspective, reduced injuries (because of home confinement) is good. However, in a case of you got injured during the quarantine period, it would be more challenging for athletes to receive a proper treatment.

Indeed, the study also reported that the runners, actually reduced their visits to health care providers during quarantine by 3.6 times (i.e. 58.5%  from 16.4% before lockdown), most probably due to movement restrictions, etc. 

The outcomes suggest that "strategic plans to maintain access to medical services" during such event (quarantine) is necessary. 

In summary, the authors highlighted that "COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant decreases in both training and injuries." 

The authors further clafiried that their findings were different compared to previous reports in an adult population. 

Read more: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7739837/ 

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Grace Wong threw 61.62 in hammer, Luqman Hakim leapt 7.85 long jump

Several good results were achieved by the national athletes today (12 December 2020) during the National Sports Council (NSC) carnival or "competition simulation."

The multi-sports event was participated mostly by athletes living and training within the NSC training ground, with additional invitations for selected athletes.

This event was conducted to provide the national athletes of various sports, a means to experience  "real competition situation" after (mostly) not having the chance to compete for a long time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, under a "real competition situation" (i.e. competition simulation).

However, as informed to all athletes and coaches, none of the performances achieved in the "simulation meet" could be considered as official competition performance.

Day 2 competition will be held tomorrow. Selected results are as follows:

MEN

100m 

Race B (-0.1)

1. Jonathan Nyepa 10.60
2. Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi 10.65
3. Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi 10.94

400m

Race A

1. Luqmanul Hakim Khairul Akmal 48.71
2. Abdul Wafiy Roslan 49.32
3. Muhammad Aftar Rosli 50.76
4. Mohd Nasharuddin Mohammad 51.09

Race B

1. Rusleem ZikryPutra 48.83
2. Muhammad Saiful Safwan Saifuddin 49.78
3. Muhammad Zulfiqar Ismil 52.82

Long Jump

1. Luqman Hakim Ramlan 7.85
2. Andre Anura 7.68
3. Mohd Latiff Romly 7.50
4. M Nasir Mustafa 7.43
5. Saifuddin Ishak 6.58

Hammer Throw

1. Jackie Wong Siew Cheer 65.68
2. Sadat Marzuki Ajisan 56.87

WOMEN

100m (+1.0) (i.e. men race A)

1. (4th) Azreen Nabila Alias 12.24

200m (+0.4)

1. Azreen Nabila Alias 26.02
2. Winnie Eng May Xin 26.65
3. Siti Noor AAishah Mohamad 27.35

Long Jump

1. Kirthana Ramasamy 5.92
2. Nurul Ashikin Abas 5.85

Shot Put

1. Norliyana Kamaruddin 10.90
2. Nur Siti Balqis Mokhtaruddin 10.65
3. Winnie Eng May Xin 9.96

Hammer Throw

1. Grace Wong Xiu Mei 62.61 - No National Record
2. Nurul Hidayah Lukman 53.49

DAY 2

MEN

Shot Put

1. Ziyad Zolkefli 16.67
2. Far Loong Deng 16.39
3. Kamal Farhan Raihan 15.10

Discus Throw (mixed with women)

1. Abdul Rahman Lee 47.95

WOMEN

High Jump

1. Ngu Jia Xin 1.71
2. Yap Sean Yee 1.68
3. Norliyana Kamaruddin 1.68

Discus Throw

1. Quenie Ting kung Ni 46.72
2. Connie Choo Kang Ni 46.13

Triple Jump

1. Kirthana Ramasamy 13.06
2. Nurul Ashikin Abas 13.02

Note - none of these performances are eligible for record and ranking purposes.

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