KUALA LUMPUR: Jonah Chang Anak Rigan smashed the national men's shot put record at the Mokpo International Athletics Championships in South Korea on Tuesday.
He hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.67 metres and erased the national mark of 17.54m set by Adi Alifuddin Hussin at the 2011 Palembang Sea Games.
The 20-year-old Sarawakian finished fifth in Mokpo.
His previous best was 17.43m registered at the Philippines Open for gold in April.
Jonah said he did not expect to set a national record as he was struggling a bit with his throwing technique.
"But I focused on my throw, and I'm happy that this has paid off," said Jonah who had just recovered from a wrist injury suffered two months ago.
His coach, Franktisek Petrovic
trovic, said: "I'm happy Jonah broke the national record after recovering from injury. He's now in the best shape of his career."
Meanwhile Irfan Shamsuddin overcame his disappointment at the recent Hangzhou Asian Games to win the men's discus gold in Mokpo with a clearance of 60.60m.
Petrovic said: "It was an incredible performance by Irfan. He ended the season with a bang.
"This is his second best throw. His best in Asia was 60.96m which he did in the Asian Championships in India in 2017 to win silver."
In the Asian Championships in Bangkok in July, Irfan won bronze with 59.63m but in the Hangzhou Asiad, he finished sixth (58.94m).
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) is looking for a hammer coach to replace Gu Yuan who has returned to China.
MAF technical director John Ballard said he also went to Mokpo to look for a hammer coach to train Jackie Wong and Grace Wong.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
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