Malaysia Open: Jackie Wong Breaks Record For 12th Time

KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 (Bernama) – National hammer thrower Jackie Wong Siew Cheer broke the national record for an amazing 12th time since 2013, with a 66.01m throw at the 2018 Malaysia Open Athletics Championship in the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil here, Sunday night. His previous record was 65.90m, which bagged him the gold medal in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games (KL2017) as well the new Games record. "I was not looking to break the record in this tournament as I was only focusing on my technique, and maybe that made me calmer to make a good throw," said the 26-year-old Sarawakian when met by reporters after the event. The athlete who failed to shine at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, last month, added he would not be able to make such a good throw without the motivation of his coach, Gu Yuen. "This time I was more in control, unlike in Gold Coast, where I was very nervous. When I returned home (after the Commonwelath Games), the coach and I spent a lot of time assessing and studying the throwing technique. We also looked at it in terms of psychology," he added. The silver medal in the event went to Kuwait's Al Jawhar Mohamad, with a throw of 59.64m while Negeri Sembilan athlete, Sadat Marzuqi Ajisan won the bronze with a throw of 49.10m. Meanwhile, the 4x100m event which was the highlight of the championship on its last day saw Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) quartet winning the gold in the men’s category with a time of 40.47s while silver went to Terengganu (40.69s) and bronze to Melaka (40.90s). The gold for the women’s category also went to ATM with 46.24s, followed by Singapore (47.24s) and Johor (48.33s) for the silver and bronze medals. -- BERNAMA