KUCHING: Malaysia’s new sprint king Khairul Hafiz Jantan who had smashed the national 100m record yesterday continued his record breaking feat by smashing the 14-year-old 200m SUKMA record in the semifinals, here today.
Khairul who had erased Watson Nyambek’s 18-year-old National record of 10.30s with a blistering time of 10.18s yesterday, clocked 21.14s in the 200m today to smash Nazmizan Muhammad’s record of 21.33s.
Nazmizan from Terengganu had set the SUKMA record of 21.33s at the 2002 SUKMA hosted by Sabah.
Khairul had blazed his way to a historic boys’ 100m gold medal at the Asian Junior Championships in Ho Chi Minh City last month.
The current National 200m record of 20.92s is held by ‘Flying Doctor’ Tan Sri Dr M. Jegathesan and set during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.
“God willing, I will try to set a better time in the final tomorrow...,” he told reporters here today.
Meanwhile, his team mate Badrul Hisyam Abdul Manap also qualified for the 200m final while Jonathan Nyepa from Sarawak also booked his berth with a time of 21.50s.
The others who will line up on the grid at 9.30am tomorrow are Muhammad Solihin Jamali (FT), Mohd Ikmal Ismail (Perlis), Muhammad Aqil Yasmin (Selangor), Muhammad Haikal Hanafi (Negeri Sembilan) and Tonga Jody Edmund (Sabah). --BERNAMA