NEW CLARK CITY: National 110m hurdler Rayzam Shah Wan Sofian’s appeal for gold in the event has been rejected by the Philippines SEA Games Organising Committee (Phisgoc).
Phisgoc has decided that the Philippines’ Clinton Kingsley Bautista remains the winner based on a reply from the Southeast Asia Athletics Association, whose opinion was sought following a protest by Malaysia.
Malaysia’s chef de mission Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin said the regional sports body had reviewed the “photo-finish” involving Clinton and Rayzam Shah and agreed with the competition technical officials’ decision to award the race to the naturalised Filipino.
Rayzam Shah and Clinton both clocked 13.97s in the race on Monday but the latter was adjudged the winner, which meant the Sabah-born Rayzam Shah failed to retain the gold he won in the Kuala Lumpur Games in 2017.
“They (Phisgoc) rejected the appeal because the medal presentation had concluded and, secondly, the ‘photo-finish’ shows the Filipino as the winner, and I have expected this (decision) from the beginning.
“That’s why the other day (controversy over gold for Malaysian gymnast) I asked for the medal presentation to be deferred because I felt they would use this excuse,” he told reporters here today.
Megat Zulkarnain reiterated that Phisgoc had agreed to reinstate national rhythmic gymnast Izzah Amzan as a joint winner with teammate Koi Sie Yan in the ribbon event.
However, a check on the official SEA Games website https://gms.2019seagames.com/RS2019/ shows that Izzah was still listed as the silver medallist.
Sie Yan and Izzah both scored 15.200 points but the jury declared Sie Yan the winner based on the degree of difficulty in their routine.
Competition technical officials, however, declared the two joint winners following a protest from the Malaysian camp.
One day later Phisgoc was reported to have withdrawn the gold from Izzah based on the tie-break procedure under International Gymnastics Federation rules. Malaysia then filed an official complaint against the Phisgoc decision. — Bernama
