National discus thrower champion Irfan Shamsuddin has broken the national record, which is also his, in the Under-23 Hallesche Wefertage Open Athletics Championships in Germany yesterday.
The two-time SEA Games gold medallist who left for Europe three weeks ago to undergo training, rewrote his own record with a 58.21m effort which surpassed the national record of 58.04m, a feat he achieved at the Malaysia Open Athletics Championship last year.
Irfan Shamsuddin then recorded distances of 56.18m, 57.34m, 54.61m dan 56.81m on his second, third, fourth and fifth throw respectively. The 20 year-old then capped his sixth and final throw off with a 58.33m effort, but he only managed a fourth-placed finish.
Sven Martin Skagestad of Norway captured the gold medal with a 62.87m effort, whereas Sweden’s Simon Pettersson (60.72m) and Germany’s Henning Prufer (59.92m) claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
National discus coach Zainal Abas said Irfan was unfortunate to miss out on the podium.
“We decided to send him (Irfan) to Europe to train and perform in competitions at the highest level because of the lack of exposure in Malaysia,” he said as quoted by The Star.
“Irfan featured in only his second competition and he has already broken the national record.
“He will compete in four or five more competitions before returning home in July.”
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