KUCHING: With the rise of Khor Jing Hong, Malaysia are looking forward to walking tall again at next year's Sea Games in Thailand.
All things point to Malaysia having a good chance of regaining the gold in the 20,000-metre race walking event in the biennial event.
This follows the emergence of Federal Territories walker Jing Hong, who not only clinched the gold medal but also set a new Sukma record at the Sarawak Stadium today.
The 19-year-old Sukma debutant dominated the competition with a time of 1 hour 34 minutes and 38.20 seconds, breaking the 20-year-old Malaysia Games record of 1:34.56.10 held by M. Thiyagu of Perak. The silver was won by Penang's Sriven Tan (1:38.25.43) while the bronze went to Selangor's C. Teban Raj (1:48.07.56).
Remarkably, Jing Hong's time was significantly better than the 2023 Sea Games winning time of 1:40.42 recorded by Hendro Yap of Indonesia. That's a great sign for Malaysia in the bid to win gold in this event next year.
The last time Malaysia won the men's 20,000m race walk gold was through Lo Choon Sieng, who clocked 1:32.34 at the 2011 Jakarta/Palembang Sea Games.
Incidentally, Choon Sieng is now Jing Hong's coach.
Jing Hong said he hopes that his Sukma achievement will lead to him representing Malaysia in the Sea Games.
"I hope this (Sukma) success will enable me to be absorbed into the (national) backup squad. If given the opportunity, the Sea Games next year will be my priority.
"Leading up to next year, my coach has already planned for me to participate in several international competitions," said the Methodist College Kuala Lumpur student.