A STRONG rivalry is brewing at the Asian Games as national sprinter Mohd Azeem Fahmi and Thailand’s Puripol Boonson blazed their way into the men’s 100m semi-finals.
Azeem was slower than Puripol yesterday, but both are expected to qualify for the final and raise the stakes even higher.
The semi-finals will be held today.
The 22-year-old Azeem, competing in the fifth heat at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium yesterday, breasted the tape first in 10.17s. He looked effortless from start to finish, maintaining his technique and staying comfortably ahead of the chasing pack.
Azeem, who holds the national record of 10.09s, said the mission was far from over.
“It is good but there are two races to focus on, so have to keep going,” said Azeem in a short message.
Singapore’s Marc Brian Louis was second (10.33s) and Taiwan’s Yang Chun-han third (10.38s).
Another Malaysian, Mohd Umaira Subri, posted a personal best of 10.43s, improving on his previous mark of 10.44s, and it was good enough to take him into the semi-finals as the 19th fastest of the 24 qualifiers.
Puripol was also in his element as he won his heat, dipping below 10 seconds with a blistering 9.95s – the fastest time among all the sprinters.
Azeem won bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, while Puripol took silver.
China’s Xie Zhenye, who won gold in Hangzhou, also qualified for the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Irfan Shamsuddin finished ninth in the discus throw final with a throw of 56.37m.
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