Iskandar Alwi soars to new national pole-vault record

Following a regimented, disciplined and committed training programme on and off the training ground proved a winning combination for national pole-vaulter Iskandar Alwi to smash the National pole vault record in the 17th Perlis SUKMA, here today.

Iskandar from Johor, soared to a new height of 5.15m at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium, here, to eclipse his own record of 5.10m that he had set during the Myanmar SEA Games last December.

In the process, the 20-year-old also set a new SUKMA record, incidentally wiping off his own mark of 4.80m set during the 2012 SUKMA in Pahang.

Another Johor athlete, Mohammad Afiq Ahmad Alham took the silver after clearing 4.60m to cap a brilliant 1-2 finish for Johor while Mohd Rahimin Mohd Nasir finished third with a height of 4.00m.

"Actually, I am not one to get out of bed early but the past five months I had disciplined myself to sleep early and get up early to train. That has really done a world of good for me.

"I believe every athlete needs to be disciplined to go far in their athletics career. I had initially targetted the SUKMA record but having cleared the height with ease, I set my sights on the National record. This performance will give me added confidence for the Incheon Asian Games in September," said the Myanmar SEA Games silver medallist.

Meanwhile, Terengganu's Muhd Ajmal Aiman Mat Hassan clinched men's 110m hurdles gold medal with a time of 14.58s, en route to beating Muhammad Hafiz Ghazali from Selangor who clocked 14.92s.

Malacca's Ku Munirah Ku Zamzuri took the women's 100m hurdles gold with a time of 14.61s after beating Aini Nurazira Mohd Ali from Johor (14.71s) and Nur Amanina Tugimin from the Federal Territories (14.79s).