Philippines Wary Of Khairul Hafiz In Bid To Retain 100m Gold Crown

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s Khairul Hafiz Jantan appears to have cast a long shadow on Filipino Eric Shauwn Cray’s dream of retaining his men’s 100m SEA Games crown. The Filipino bagged the gold in the blue riband event by setting a national record of 10.25 seconds at the 2015 Singapore SEA Games, while his season best stands at 10.27s, set in April. Eric cannot take Khairul’s progress lightly, with the Malaysian having broken the national record by clocking 10.18s at the 2016 Malaysian Games (Sukma) in Sarawak last year and clocking a season best of 10.24s at the Asian Athletics Championship in India, two weeks ago. Just two days ago, Khairul erased Dr M. Jegathesan’s 49-year 200m national record of 20.92s, after crossing the finishing line in 20.90s at the Malaysia Open Athletics Championship at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here. This certainly adds pressure for the United States-born sprinter, with a SEA Games double on the line, Philippine athletics head coach Sean Guevara admitted. There is another matter to contend with for Eric - who is also the 400m hurdles defending champion – as both events – the 100m and 400m hurdles – are scheduled to be held on the same day with less than an hour gap between them. The heats are scheduled for Aug 22 while the finals on Aug 23. “We know that Eric will see a tough challenge from Khairul for the gold medal. We cannot predict who will win the gold because the pressure is very intense and the fastest one will emerge victorious,” the former high jumper said. “I don’t think that sprinters from other countries can challenge them based on the current results. The fight is surely between Eric and Khairul,” he said. Likely to join Eric and Khairul in the fray in the 100m will be 2013 Myanmar SEA Games triple gold medallist in 100m, 200m and 4x100m events Jirapong Meenapra of Thailand, his compatriot Siripol Punpa, and Indonesian Boby Yaspi. Eric, the Asian 400m hurdles champion will also take part in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays at the biennial Games. Meanwhile, Sean said they would be sending a 37-strong athletics contingent for the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, and were eyeing to better the tally of five gold medals won in Singapore, two years ago. -- BERNAMA