Muhammad Azeem's dream of 200m gold dashed

KUALA LUMPUR: National sprint king Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi's dream of adding another medal to his gold collection at the 2022 Malaysia Games (Sukma) Games went unfulfilled after he finished second in the men's 200 metres at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.

Still struggling with a hamstring injury, the Perakian could only record a time of 21.03 seconds as he dominated early before being upended by Johor's Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat's whose lunge in the last 10 metres dashed Muhammad Azeem's dream.

Muhammad Arsyad's victory, who won by 0.01 seconds, thus redeemed his disappointment of losing to Muhammad Azeem (winning time: 10.25s) in the 100m when he only won silver (10.50s) in the blue riband event on Friday (Sept 16).

Third place went to Negeri Sembilan's Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi who recorded 21.18s.

"I dedicate this (200m) victory to my father (Md Saat Jaafar) who celebrated his 59th birthday today. I am very grateful for this success and it is my first gold at Sukma," said Muhammad Arsyad.

Meanwhile, in the women's 200m, Selangor's Nur Afrina Batrisyia Mohd Rizal emerged as champion with a winning time of 24.83s.

Sabah's Nur Aishah Rofina Aling (25.14s) finished second while third place went to Pahang's K.M. Darshini (25.74s).

-- BERNAMA