Malaysian sprinter Khairul Hafiz Jantan sent out a major warning to his SEA Games rivals by clocking a season’s best time of 10.31 seconds to win the 100m gold at the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships.
He outclassed two Thai sprinters in the form of Jaran Sathoengram, who finished second with a time of 10.45 seconds and 2013 SEA Games gold medalist Jirapong Meenapra, who took bronze with a time of 10.48 seconds.
This is Hafiz’s best performance in 2017, having struggled for form after setting a new Malaysian record at the Malaysian Games (SUKMA) last year. His 10.18 seconds time shattered Watson Nyambek’s time of 10.30 seconds, which was the national record for over 18 years.
“Khairul’s two-week training stint in Baguio (the Philippines) recently certainly helped him to regain his form and confidence,” Khairul Hafiz’s coach, Mohd Poad Mohd Kassim told The Star.
This comes as a major confidence boost for Khairul, who is being earmarked as a potential gold medalist for the upcoming SEA Games, which will officially get underway on the 19th of August.
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