With Malaysian sprinter Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli skipping the women’s 200-meter dash of the 30th Southeast Asian Games athletic meets, three Filipino sprinters will be in contention for podium finishes.
The 26-year-old Zaidatul, who took the silver medal in the 100-meter and 200-meter events back in 2017, had subpar finishes during her six-month stint in the United States.
“Sprinters from Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines have clocked better times in the 200m this year,” said Malaysian coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil in an online interview/statement which came out on the Malaysian Star.
Zaidatul, according to her coach, has been prone to injuries. And so as not to aggravate her hamstring injury, Zaidatul will have a limited stint in the Games.
In the last SEA Games, Zaidatul joined the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. But, this time Zaidatul will only run in the 100m and the 4x100m mixed relay, which will be held for the first time in the SEA Games, explained Zaidatul’s coach.
So far, Filipino-American standout Zion Corrales-Nelson, who is doing her preparations in the US, is among the three Filipinas who could unseat Vietnamese sprint queen Le Thun Chin, who won the 100-m and 200-m sprint golds two years ago.
The other two Pinoy standouts are Kristina Knott and Kayla Richardson.
Corrales-Nelson has clocked good times of 11.41 seconds and 23.16 seconds in US NCAA meets early this year. Her performances are below the 11.56 seconds and the 23.32 seconds that Le registered during the 2017 SEA Games.
Zaidatul, who had times of 11.74 and 23.63 seconds to claim the silver behind Le, had 11.65 seconds in the 100-meters in an Ipoh meet and an undisclosed below par time in the 200-meters.
Knott has a noticeable time of 11.42 seconds during the Asian Grand Prix’s 100-meter event, and 23.62 seconds in the Philippine National Open, with both performances going beyond the SEA Games’ gold medal standard.
Richardson can also challenge Le for the gold in the 200-m after notching 23.90 seconds in a Redlands, California meet.
The Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association will announce the composition of the national team following final tryouts which will be held this weekend at the New Clark City track stadium in Capas, Tarlac.
This year, Le had a time of 11.67 seconds in the 100-meters event in Doha last April, while submitting 24.06 seconds in the 200-meters.
And this puts Richardson also in contention against Le should they have a confrontation in the SEA Games.
