Azeem and Khairul race into semis as veteran Zaidatul makes final

On a roll: Zaidatul Husniah clocking 11.56 in the 100m heats to make it to the final.

PETALING JAYA: It’s the big day for sprinter Mohd Azeem Fahmi as he showed his intent by racing into the semi-finals of the men’s 100m event as the fifth fastest qualifier at the Asian Championships in Bangkok yesterday.

The 19-year-old Azeem, seeking to be the first Malaysian to go under 10s, won heat four with a time of 10.24s while Lee Hong Kit of Hong Kong came in second (10.46), followed by Oman’s Anwar Ali Al Balushi (10.61).

Although it was far from his season best of 10.11 and the national record of 10.09s he set at the World Junior Championships in Cali last year, Azeem has been showing fine form and this was evident during the 4x100m relay heats and the final on Wednesday.

Azeem sprinted to victory with ease yesterday although running in lane eight and he is expected to show his true form today where semi-final and final will be held at the National Stadium.

It was also a day of double joy when the 2017 SEA Games champion Khairul Hafiz Jantan also qualified for the semi-finals after finishing fourth in heat one with 10.46.

He was placed 17th out of the 18 qualifiers.

The top four qualifiers ahead of Azeem were Japan’s Hiroki Yanagita, who clocked the fastest time in the heats with 10.10, followed by Saudi Arabia’s Abkar Mohd Abdullah (10.18), Ryuichiro Sakai of Japan (10.18) and former Asian champion Femi Ogunode of Qatar (10.19).

If national sprint coach Poad Kassim’s assessment of Azeem during a training camp at the Univeristi Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) in Tanjung Malim prior to the Asian meet is anything to go by, he should be in full throttle today.

“Azeem has been showing good form and there have been some magical timings during the training camp. We can look forward to a good outing in Bangkok,” said Poad.

Although Poad did not reveal the times, it seems that Azeem may have been running closer to his national record (10.09) or even better.

Azeem has personally set a target of dipping below 10s and looking at the competition and the presence of his coach Ken Harnden, who trains him at the Auburn Univeristy in Alabama, the United States, things are looking positive.

Meanwhile, it was also a grand day for veteran women’s sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli who made it to the final after clocking 11.56 in the heats.

It was one of the fastest times in recent years for Zaidatul, 30, and placed her as the seventh fastest qualifier into the semi-finals.

Hamidah Esmaeilnezhad of Iran (11.31) and her compatriot Farzaneh Fasihi (11.42), and Ge Manqi of China (11.45) were the top three qualifiers.

Several Malaysians featured in the finals yesterday but none of them managed to finish in the top five.

In the men’s hammer, Jackie Wong managed only sixth spot with a throw of 65.07m while Sadat Marzuqi Ajizan placed 13th out of 15 competitors with 59.40.

SEA Games champion Andre Anura Anuar was 10th after only managing 15.50m.

In the women’s hammer, Grace Wong hurled a distance of 57.99m to finish seventh while Norliyana Kamaruddin finished in 10th position after clearing 1.75m in the high jump event. n MEN

100m

Heat 1: 1. Ryuichiro Sakai (Jpn) 10.18; 2. Imranur Rahman (Ban) 10.25; 3. Ngan Ngoc Nghia (Vie) 10.41; 4. Khairul Hafiz Jantan 10.46.

Heat 2: 1. Mohd Azeem Fahmi 10.24; 2. Lee Hong Kit (HK) 10.46; 3. Anwar Ali Al Balushi (Oma) 10.61.

Hammer: 1. Wang Qi (Chn) 72.13m; 2. Sukrobh Khodjaev (Uzb) 71.83; 3. Shota Fukuda (Jpn) 71.80; 6. Jackie Wong 57.99; 13. Sadat Marzuqi Ajisan 59.40.

Triple jump: 1 Abdulla Aboobacker (Ind) 16.92; 2. Hikaru Ikehata (Jpn) 16.73; 3. Kim Jang-woo (Kor) 16.59; 10. Andre Anura Anuar 15.50m.

WOMEN

100m heat 3: Farzaneh Fasihi (Irn) 11.42; 2. Arisa Kimishima (Jpn) 11.46; 3. Kristina Knott (Phi) 11.55; 4. Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli 11.56.

Hammer: 1. Zhao Jie (Chn) 69.39; 2. Joy McArthur (Jpn) 66.56; 3. Raika Murakami (Jpn) 64.17; 7. Grace Wong 57.99.

High jump: 1. Kristina Ovchinnikova (Kaz) 1.86; 2. Yelizaveta Matveyeva (Kaz) 1.86; 3. Svetlana Radzivil (Uzb) 1.83; 10. Norliyana Kamaruddin 1.75m.