KUALA LUMPUR: Recently crowned Malaysia Games (Sukma) sprint king Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi ended the 2022 season by finishing a credible fifth in the men’s 200m event in the Athletics Challenge in Japan.
The 18-year-old Perakian recorded another sub-21 seconds by clocking 20.98 seconds (s) at the Denka Big Swan Stadium, Niigata today.
It is his fourth sub-21s feat this year, with his personal best being the 20.83s set at the 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, in August.
Muhammad Azeem’s coach, Muhammad Amir Izwan Tan Abdullah seemed pleased with his performance.
“I am satisfied with the performance of and time set by Azeem here, after he had clocked 21.00s in the semi-finals. Although he finished fifth, what is important is his consistency. After this, he will start making preparations to further his studies in the United States,” the coach said when contacted in Niigata.
Meanwhile, Japanese sprinters made a clean sweep of the 200m podium finish with Uzawa Toba taking gold in 20.60s, followed by Keigo Yasuda (20.75s) and Uemoto Naoki (20.94s).
About two weeks ago, Muhammad Azeem won the Sukma 100m race in 10.25s but had to be satisfied with second place in the 200m event behind Johor’s Muhammad Arsyad Md Saat (21.02) after crossing the line in 21.03s. - Bernama
