ALMOST: National record holder Iskandar comes close only to be denied
ISKANDAR Alwi’s bid to break his own national pole vault record was interrupted when the bar broke as a fifth high jumper met the Sea Games qualification mark at the Johor Open in Muar last weekend.
In March, Iskandar broke the national record that had stood for 11 years by clearing 5.01 metres at the Federal Territories All-Comers meet.
He has come close several times since to bettering the mark and on Sunday he was only denied the chance to clear 5.05m when he fell on the bar at his second attempt, snapping it into two parts.
The organisers replaced the bar with one used for the high jump but Iskandar’s concentration had gone by then.
However, the 19-year-old vaulter from Johor won the event with a 4.85m effort for a meet record.
“In my second attempt I fell on the bar and it broke.
“I was hoping to break the record but it was not to be,” said Iskandar, who has switched to sturdier poles from the set he used in March.
“With the new poles, I hope to do it at my next competition at the Malaysian Closed in Bukit Jalil (on June 21-23).”
Selangor’s Azly Ghazali became the fifth high jumper to put himself up for consideration for the Sea Games when he cleared 2.12m to easily beat the competition.
Back-up athlete Azly, who was last year’s national schools champion, joins S. Navinraj, Nauraj Singh Randhawa, A. Kavee Alagan and Lee Hup Wei in staking a claim for a place in the Sea Games squad to Myanmar in December.
All five will have to compete in a trial before the Games with the best two to be selected.
In other events, national athlete Jironi Riduan, who is also teaching at the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School, won the 800m in 1:55.70 while national women’s discus record holder Yap Jeng Tzan won her event with a 43.12m effort.
Alwi’s Vaulter Magazine
