BANGKOK: Azeem Fahmi is disappointed that he could not meet his 10-second target in the men's 100m final in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Friday.
The Perakian clocked 10.25s for fifth place at the Suphachalasai National Stadium.
This was far from his season best of 10.04 (wind assisted) registered in a competition in the United States recently. And he holds the national record of 10.09.
There were high expectations on Malaysia's fastest man in Bangkok who also flew in his American coach, Ken Harnden.
The 19-year-old Azeem clocked 10.35 to finish second in the semi-finals on Friday.
A day earlier, he won his heats in 10.24.
Azeem, who is a student at Auburn State University, Alabama, said he was disappointed with his performance.
"I pushed myself hard in the final but I just could not achieve a podium finish. I could have done a much better time and made Malaysia proud by getting a medal.
"It was a good learning experience for me."
Azeem said he hopes to work on a few things to make sure he comes back stronger for his next competition to qualify for the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August.
Even though he did not meet the qualifying mark of 10 seconds, Azeem is likely to go to Budapest as a wild card.
The last Malaysian to win a medal in the men's 100m in the Asian Championships was Watson Nyambek who clocked 10.42 for silver in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1998. Comparatively, Azeem's 10.25 run on Friday was still faster than Watson's silver-winning time.
In Bangkok, Japan's Hiroki Yanagita won the 100m gold in 10.02. Abdullah Abkar Mohammed of Saudi Arabia posted 10.19 for silver, and Hassan Taftian of Iran took the bronze in 10.23.
Khairul Hafiz Jantan and Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli both failed to qualify for the men's and women's 100m final. In the semi-finals, Khairul clocked 10.50 to finish sixth and Zaidatul did 11.67 to come in fifth.
Queenie Ting could only finish sixth in the women's discus with 49.30m. The Sarawakian's effort was way off her national record of 52.77m. Compatriot Nur Atiqah Sufiah Nanizam finished last among seven participants with 43.55m.
RESULTS
Men, 100m: 1. Hiroki Yanagita (Jpn) 10.02, 2. Abdullah Abkar Mohammed (Ksa) 10.19, 3. Hassan Taftian (Iri) 10.23. 5. Azeem Fahmi 10.25.
110m hurdles: 1. Shunya Takayama (Jpn) 13.29, 2. Xu Zhuoyi (Chn) 13.39, 3. Yaqoub Alyouha (Kuw) 13.56.
3,000m steeplechase: 1. Ryoma Aoki (Jpn) 8:34.91, 2. Yaser Salem Bagharab (Qat) 8:37.11, 3. Seiya Sunada (Jpn) 8:39.17.
Shot put: 1. Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Ind) 20.23m, 2. Medhi Saberi (Irn) 19.98m, 3. Ivan Ivanov (Kaz) 19.87m.
Women, 100m: 1. Shanti Pereira (Sin) 11.20, 2. Fasihi Farzaneh (Irn) 11.39, 3. Ge Manqi (Chn) 11.40.
3000m steeplechase: 1. Parul Chaudhary (Ind) 9:38.76, 2. Xu Shuang (Chn) 9:44.54, 3. Relmi Yoshimura (Jpn) 9:48.50.
Discus: 1. Feng Bin (Chn) 66.42m, 2. Wang Fang (Chn) 58.49m, 3. Subenrat Insaeng (Tha) 55.80m. 6. Queenie Ting (Mas) 49.30m, 7. Nur Atiqah Sufiah Nanizam (Mas) 43.55m.
Long jump: 1. Sumire Hata (Jpn) 6.97m (meet record), 2. Shaili Singh (Ind) 6.54m, 3. Jiawei Zhong (Chn) 6.46m.
Pole vault: 1. Ling Li (Chn) 4.66m (meet record), Chunge Niu (Chn) 4.51m, 3. Chayanisa Chomchuendee (Tha) 4.10m.