Teenager Danish leaves national sprinters in his dust at Cahya Mata
KUALA LUMPUR: Teenager Danish Iftikhar Roslee stunned a host of national sprinters to win the men's 100m gold medal at the Cahya Mata Super Series at Merdeka Stadium on Saturday.
The 18-year-old clocked 10.57s to beat national sprinter Jonathan Nyepa (10.66) and Penang's Tan Zhi Hang (10.70) to the line.
Khairul Hafiz Jantan, the 2017 KL Sea Games champion, was fourth in 10.74.
Although Danish's time was slower than his personal best of 10.47 set last year, the Johor-born student was thrilled to outpace the national sprinters.
"I never expected to win the race against the best in the country. Surprisingly, I led from start to finish," said Danish, who scored 5As, 2Bs and 1C in his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exams.
Several German sprinters competed as guests in the semi-finals to prepare for the World Relay Championships in Guangzhou, China, on May 11-12.
"It was an honour to race against the German sprinters in the semi-finals. I did well to clock 10.56 and finish third behind Julian Wagner (10.40) and Heiko Gussmann (10.45)," added Danish, who hopes to race at the Asian Championships in Gumi, South Korea, on May 27-31.
Meanwhile, Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli, the national record holder at 11.49, clocked 11.72 to win the women's 100m final.
Sabah's Nur Aishah Rofina Zulkifli was second in 11.80, while Azreen Nabia Alias of Malaysia Athletics came in third with 11.83.
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