SEA Games: Muhammad Irfan wins discus title for fifth consecutive time

HANOI: Muhammad Irfan Shamsuddin clinched the SEA Games men's discus throw gold medal for the fifth consecutive time, today.

The 26-year-old athlete claimed the title with his best hurl of 58.26m in the second attempt at the My Dinh National Stadium, here.

Thailand's Kiadpradid Srisai took the silver with a throw of 51.18m, while William Edward Morrision of the Philippines completed the podium with a 50.44m throw.

Muhammad Irfan, who is the national record holder with 62.55m set in Austria in 2017, claimed his first SEA Games gold in the 2013 Myanmar Games.

The 2017 Asian Championships silver medalist, retained the gold in the 2015 Singapore, 2017 KL and 2019 Philippines editions.

Despite Muhammad Irfan's close to a decade-long dominance in the SEA Games and having improved his personal best, the Games record of 59.50m set by former discus throw king of Singapore, Wong Tuck Yim in the 1999 Brunei edition, continues to elude him.

Speaking to reporters later, Muhammad Irfan said even though he was happy to contribute a gold medal, he was not satisfied with the result as he believed he could have made a better throw.

"I am disappointed because I was consistent during training hitting over 60m every day, maybe I was too uptight over the matter. Anyway, there's always room for improvement, and I will be back again in Cambodia next year to defend my gold with a new Games record.

"After this I will be leaving for the European Tour, which will also be my preparations for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games," he said.

-- BERNAMA