Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI’S fastest man Md Fakhri Ismail missed out on the final of the men’s 100m event at the 29th SEA Games after coming in fifth in with a time of 10.75 seconds in semi-final 2 earlier today.
With the top-four of each semi-final advancing tot he final, the Bruneian was just 0.04s behind Flipino Anfrnee Lopena at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Khairul Hafiz Jantan of Malaysia won the race on 10.34s followed by 2013 gold medallist Jirapong Meenapra of Thailand 0.08s behind.
Iswandi of Indonesia was the other through from the semi-final with a third place finish on 10.56s.
Fakhri felt that he did okay but was hoping to run in the 10.6s.
“My run was alright but my coach told me that my momentum was wrong and my reaction was slow,” said Fakhri in an interview with BruSports News after the event.
“Too bad because I was slow to bring the drive up which took too long,” added 2016 Rio Olympian, who set the national record in the previous edition of the Games two years ago with a time of 10.59s.
Md Asy Syafi’e Md Bohari was the other Bruneian in action and placed seventh in semi-final 1 after crossing the line with a time of 11.06s.
Defending champion Eric Shauwn Cray of the Philippines won the race on 10.58s while Malaysian Jonathan Nyepa followed closely behind just 0.02s off.
Thailand’s Kritsada Namsuwun crossed the line in third on 10.64s while Yaspi Boby was 0.01s back to move into the next round.
Md Asy Syafi’e, whose personal best stands at 10.67s from the last edition, felt that he could have done much better.
“I’ve tried my best already and I felt I didn’t run well because my left hamstring suddenly came out on the track,” said Syafi’e.
“To be honest that’s not my best run. I know I can try my best again. Maybe not today but in the future,” he concluded.
