Dek Wan eyes sprint gold after making final

TOKYO: Defending champion Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi had no problems advancing to the final of the men's 100-metre (m) T36 (physical impairment) category at the Tokyo Paralympics here today.

Mohamad Ridzuan, who is better known as 'Dek Wan', won Heat Two of the first round in 12.06 seconds (s) at the Olympic Stadium here.

The 33-year-old told Bernama that he is capable of going faster in the final.

"Yes, I believe I can run faster and I want to win the gold tomorrow (Sept 4)," he said.

His closest challenger Yang Yifei of China came in second in 12.10s followed by Evgenii Shvetsov of the Russian Paralympic Committee in 12.26s.

PARALYMPICS-ATHLETICS (MOHAMAD RIDZUAN) 2 (LAST) TOKYO

Mohamad Ridzuan, however, was fourth fastest overall out of the eight sprinters who qualified from the two heats for Saturday's (Sept 4) final.

Australian James Turner, running in Heat One, stole the show when he not only emerged the fastest but also clocked 11.87s to break the previous Paralympic record of 12.07s set by Mohamad Ridzuan at the 2016 Rio edition.

James is also the world record holder after clocking 11.72s at the world meet in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2019.

The final Saturday (Sept 4) will be held at about 10.38 am local time (9.38 am Malaysian time).

-- BERNAMA