OSAKA: THE usual Causeway sports rivalry between Malaysia and Singapore took a different turn in Osaka, Japan, on Tuesday.
Malaysia’s Badrul Hisyam Manap and Singapore’s Timothee Yap decided to be teammates for Team Malaysia during the Puma Ignite Disc carnival at Yanmar Stadium Nagai.
Originally, Badrul was to head a team of Malaysian sports writers with Timothee leading the Singapore sportswriters in a friendly 4 x 100m relay competition with other running clubs. But the two neighbours eventually opted for a joint team.
The Malaysian sprinter and his Singapore counterpart may be rivals at next year’s Kuala Lumpur Sea Games but the duo were happy to share a lane at Yanmar Stadium.
Timothee, a 21-year-old law student at National University of Singapore, aspires to be a legal eagle that also flies high on the track at the Sea Games.
At 1.84m tall and 73kg, Timothee packs a much bigger physique than Badrul who stands at 1.65m and weighs 56kg. But the Malaysian is much more explosive at the start.
When told that Badrul has a personal best of 10.29s, Timothee, whose fastest time is 10.52s, sounded envious and said: “That is fast. You should come to Singapore and run.”
Timothee, in inviting Badrul to the Singapore Open on April 28-29, said the Mondo track at the Sports Hub is like the type used at the Olympics.
“You should try it, it is a fast track,” Timothee told Badrul.
And since it is a “fast track,” it will be of great help to Badrul’s mission to smash Watson Nyambek’s long standing national 100m record.