Strong girl: Johor’s S. Geetha celebrating her 800m gold medal win.
S. GEETHA touched her ankles and hamstring before starting her Malaysia Games (Sukma) 800m race.
She needed them to be strong.
The pint-sized athlete had fractured the ankle during training last year and after recovering, she was overzealous with her training and had torn her hamstring.
But neither ankle nor hamstring bothered her as the 19-year-old Johor athlete raced to victory in the 1,500m. She followed the pack diligently before making her move in the final 200m where she gave her all to take gold at the Sarawak Stadium in Petra Jaya yesterday.
It was her second gold medal.
In the 800m race, Geetha clocked 2:20.41 to win ahead of Kelantan’s Nor Ainaa Balqis Hashim (2:22.21) and Sabah’s Hizillawanty Jamain (2:22.54).
“When I tapped my ankle and hamstring, it reminded me of the injuries I had last year. But it also loosens my muscles,” said the Bukit Jalil Sports School student.
“I fractured my ankle during training, which was painful because I was looking forward to competing and then when I returned, I tore my hamstring because I was too eager.
“Still, my coach Jironi Riduan ensured I had a good chance here,” said Geetha, who only reached the finals at the last edition.
Geetha, who has been competing in the middle distance events since she was 11, is now eyeing a spot in the SEA Games next year.
Meanwhile, Selangor conquered the 4x100m relays in both boys and girls.
Both quartets coached by Mohd Sharil Ab Rahman were not fancied to win as many expected Johor to take the boys’ event and Terengganu to win the girls’ gold.
The boys’ team got the gold with a time of 40.86s, while the girls recorded 47.97s.
“I have been with them since Form One and I am happy they got the gold. I want to thank coach Poad (Kassim) for helping us in the relay,” said Sharil.
In the overall athletics standings, Johor proved dominant winning nine golds, five silvers and four bronzes.
Selangor were second with eight golds, five silvers and four bronzes, while the Federal Territories finished third with six golds, six silvers and two bronzes.
RESULTS
Boys
800m: 1. Umar Osman (Joh) 1:51.19, 2. P. Risheraam (Ft) 1:55.31, 3. S. Sri Murugan (Pah) 1:55.46
4x100m relay: 1. Selangor 40.86s, 2. Sabah 41.06s, 3. Pahang 41.21s
Hammer throw: 1. Jonah Chang Rigan (Swk) 54.65m, 2. Rizad Azri Che Radzi (Per) 48.70m, 3. Nabil Faiz Ayub (Sab) 46.50m
Long jump: 1. Tan Zhi Hang (Pen) 7.16m, 2. Kasman Kassim (Sab) 7.11m, 3. Gabriel Syamsuri Pauline (Swk) 7.08m
Girls
800m: 1. S. Geetha (Joh) 2:20.41, 2. Nor Ainaa Balqis Hashim (Kel) 2:22.21, 3. Hizillawanty Jamain (Sab) 2:22.54
20,000m walk: 1. Xin Yee Zhi (Nse) 2’05:47.02, 2. Ying Kok Hui (Ft) 2’06:43.61, 3. Alyssa Qistina Leong (Kel) 2’08:05.27
4x100m relay: 1. Selangor 47.97s, 2. Johor 48.32s, 3. Sarawak 48.38s.
