KUALA LUMPUR: Sprint sensation Khairul Hafiz Jantan anchored the national 4x100m relay quartet to a new national record of 39.62 seconds at the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.
Led off by 2016 national schools double sprint gold medallist Haiqal Hanafi, second and third runners Jonathan Nyepa and Badrul Hisyam Manap combined to hand off the baton to Khairul to bring the team home first across the final.
The quartet improved on the previous mark of 39.67s set by Jonathan, Izzudin Yahaya, Harith Ammar Sobri and Nixson Kennedy at the 2015 Sea Games in Singapore.
This is the second national record in which Khairul has had a hand in breaking in as many weeks after running 20.90 seconds in the 200m at the Malaysian Open.
Even more impressive is the fact that the record set by the Malaysians came without any pressure as they blitzed the field with the second-placed team, Bo Cong An, trailing by a distant 0.95 of a second.