PHNOM PENH: It may have been just a bronze medal but national sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli can take pride in having ended a six-year medal drought in the women’s 200-metre (m) event at the 2023 SEA Games, here, today.
Zaidatul, who last won a medal when she bagged a silver in the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, clocked 23.60 seconds (s) to finish behind Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, who retained the gold with a time of 22.69s, and Vietnam’s Thi Nhi Yen Tran (23.54s).
Zaidatul admitted that she initially refused to compete in the event after finishing empty-handed in the last two editions but changed her mind after being persuaded by coach Mohd Poad Md Kassim.
“Today, I only targeted making the final so I am Alhamdulillah grateful (for the bronze medal) because it’s been a long time since I won an individual medal,” she told reporters.
The 29-year-old sprinter, who holds the national women’s 100m record of 11.35s set in South Africa in 2017, hopes her achievement today will boost her confidence ahead of the women’s 4x100m race on Wednesday (May 10).
Meanwhile, Jonathan Nyepa missed out on a podium finish when he could only finish fourth in the men’s 200m final after clocking 21.31s.
Thailand’s Soraoat Dapbang (20.62s) clinched gold as Vietnam’s Ngoc Nghia Ngan (20.84s) took silver while Indonesia’s former world Under-20 champion Lalu Muhammad Zohri (21.02s) settled for bronze.
Jonathan, who seemed satisfied with his fourth placing, has vowed to focus on the men’s 4x100m race. -Bernama
