Sukma: National Paralympic athlete Abdul Latif wins long jump gold

The 19-year-old Doha 2015 International Paralympic Council Athletics World Championships gold medal winner in the T20 category with a distance of 7.35m which was also a new world championships record, rose majestically above the rest of the field to clear a distance of 7.46m at the State Stadium.

The national Paralympian had jumped to a new championship record and Malaysia's first gold medal with a distance of 7.35 metres in his second attempt to erase the old record of 7.19 metres held by Jose Antonio Exposito Pineiro of Spain in the same event in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011.

"I am extremely happy with my performance today. I have worked hard and pleased to see the result. My target is to win the gold medal in the Rio Paralympics," he told Bernama here.

Abdul Latif's win in Doha had already given him a ticket to compete in the Rio Paralympics scheduled in September.

The long jumper coached by Mohd Syarul Amri Mohd Suhaimi was a clear winner as Nik Fariezal Erman Nik AB Hadi from Terengganu could only manage 7.02m for the silver while Mohd Shahrin Azuan Jamaika from Selangor came in third with a distance of 6.96m.

Earlier, R. Premkumaar from Negeri Sembilan swept the 10,000m walk gold medal with a time of 47 minutes 33.27 seconds leaving K. Raavi Kumaran G from Penang to settle for the silver with a time of 47:39.10s while R.D. Eswaran from Negeri Sembilan recorded 47:40.08s for the bronze.

Selangor dominated the men's 800m with a 1-2 finish when Asif Rahman Jiyaudeen and Putra Azrul Syazwan took the gold and silver after clocking 1:54.41s and 1:54.80s respectively.

Selangor were also dominant in the women's 800m when J.S Savindrer Kaur clocked 2:13.77s to beat Teoh Kim Chyi from Kedah and Faradilah Raznie from Sarawak for the gold.