Rekod Baru Marathon

Marathon man Yew Woo books ticket all the way from US
By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Marathon runner Chan Yew Woo is the latest athlete to qualify for the Laos SEA Games.

The United States-based Malaysian clocked 2’26:28 in the St George Marathon in Utah last Sunday to meet the qualifying time, which was the silver medal-winning effort at the last Games in Korat in 2007.

Yew Woo, who works as a dining assistant manager in Iowa, also broke the national record of 2’ 29:27, set by K. Baskaran in the 2001 Singapore Marathon.


Noraseela: Among the four female athletes that have qualified for the Laos SEA Games.
The Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) deputy president, Karim Ibrahim, said that they had made a check with the marathon organisers in Utah and they confirmed the time clocked by Yew Woo.

“He improved on the national record by almost three minutes for a creditable sixth-place finish,” said Karim.

Yew Woo will be making his second appearance in the biennial Games in Vientiane in December. He made his debut in Korat and did not finish the race.

“Malaysia have not won a marathon medal in many editions of the Games and we are banking on Yew Woo to end the drought in Laos,” said Karim.

With Yew Woo’s entry, there are now 13 athletes (nine men and four women) who have qualified on merit for the Games.

Four men’s walkers have surpassed the qualifying mark for the 20km event. They are Teoh Boon Lim, Lo Choon Sieng, Mohd Shahrulhaizy Abdul Rahman and B. Thirukumaran but only two will get to compete in Laos and selection will be made based on their results in the India Open in Bhopal.

The other male athletes in the team are Lee Hup Wei (high jump), Mohd Hafizuddin Shahadan and S. Mathialagan and M. Vadivellan (800m).

The womens’ athletes who have qualified are Noraseela Khalid (400m hurdles), Yuan Yufang (20km walk), Tan Song Hwa (hammer) and Roslinda Samsu (pole vault).

The Malaysian Open championships at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil this weekend will be the last chance for athletes to qualify for the Laos Games.