THERE is very little doubt Irfan Shamshuddin will complete a hat-trick of discus gold medals at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August after extending his national record in Halle, Germany on Sunday.
Irfan, 22, became the first Southeast Asian discus thrower to crack the 60-metre mark with an effort of 61.10m to come in third at the Halleshche Werfertage Championships.
It is the second year in a row Irfan has broken the national record at the Halle meet after improving on his previous best of 59.29m set in Slovakia in June last year.
His effort surpassed the Sea Games record of 59.50m set by Singapore’s James Wong, who also held the Southeast Asian record of 59.87m set in the same year.
“Finally over 60m and the Southeast Asia record! Thanks all,” Irfan posted on Twitter.
Irfan vowed not to stop here as he continues to push the limit of his boundaries.
Responding to Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s congratulatory message, Irfan said: “More to come big boss. Thank you!”
German Clemens Prufer won the event with a throw of 62.29m, while Torben Brandt was second on 62.09m.
Irfan paved the way to his record-setting feat with an opening throw of 59.05m before letting loose on his fourth attempt to jump on to the podium.
More than just the Sea Games, continued improvement could see Irfan take on the challenge for a medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta next year.
His current best is only 0.15m short of the bronze medal-winning effort of Qatar’s Ahmed Mohamed Dheeb at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.