Irfan grabs bronze, Fazri records Malaysia's fastest 800m in 40 years
KUALA LUMPUR: Irfan Shamsuddin gave Malaysia something to cheer about by clinching a bronze medal in the men's discus — the country's first medal — at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on Friday.
The 29-year-old threw 58.82m to finish behind gold medallist Abuduaini Tuergong of China (63.47) and silver medallist Masateru Yugami of Japan (60.38).
It was Irfan's third medal in five Asian Championship appearances.
Meanwhile, Wan Fazri Wan Zahari clocked a personal best of 1:47.64s to finish fourth in the 800m heats, narrowly missing out on a place in the final.
His effort was just shy of the national record of 1:47.37 set by B. Rajkumar at the 1985 Asian Championships in Jakarta.
However, Wan Fazri's time was faster than the Ssea Games record of 1:48.29 set by Samson Vallabouy in Kuala Lumpur in 1989.
Russel Alexander Nasir Taib, who holds the national 200m record (20.77), managed only 21.71 to finish fifth in his heat and failed to reach the semi-finals.
Compatriot Sayyid Amin Roslan also bowed out after placing fifth with a time of 21.83 in his heat.
In the men's 4x100m relay, the quartet of Russel, Jonathan Nyepa, Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam and Danish Iftikhar Roslee were disqualified after a botched final baton exchange.
Team manager Datuk R. Annamalai said they were proud of Irfan's achievement.
"Irfan did well to deliver his third Asian medal. We've already hit our medal target," said Annamalai.
"We're also pleased with Wan Fazri's 800m performance — it's the fastest time by a Malaysian in 40 years.
"The 4x100m team was disqualified as the final baton exchange between Pengiran Aidil and Danish took place outside the changeover zone."
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