Pengiran, Zaidatul Steal Limelight At Malaysian Open By Winning Men's And Women's 200m Races

KANGAR, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- The country’s young national athlete Pengiran Aidil Auf Hajam and national sprint queen Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli dominated the men's and women's 200-metre sprint events, respectively, on the second day of the 2025 Malaysian Open Athletics Championships at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium here today.

Pengiran Aidil, 20, representing Sabah, hit the tape with a time of 21.42 seconds (s) to take first place, defeating Singaporean Praharsh Ryan, who came in second (21.57s), while Federal Territory Sports Council athlete Reeve Kua Man Hong won third place (21.88s).

Meanwhile, Zaidatul Husniah, 32, representing Kedah, continued to prove her excellence after successfully winning the race with a time of 24.57s, ahead of Sabah’s Siti Norjahera Beliamor (25.54s), and Negeri Sembilan’s Adriana Shahryll Nizam took third place with a time of (26.09s).

When met by reporters after the event, Pengiran Aidil said he had set a target of winning first place in the 200m sprint and expressed his gratitude for successfully achieving it today despite feeling a little tired.

"For me, today's time is still satisfactory even though I was unable to break my personal best record of 21.21s, which was set this year (at the Varsity Track and Field Championship Series 1 2025 held at the Kluang Sports Complex, Johor, last April)," he said.

Zaidatul Husniah, who also won the 100m sprint event yesterday, said she was still satisfied and happy with her performance today for the 200m sprint event, even though the time was not particularly impressive.

"I am happy because I was able to finish the competition and at the same time give young runners like Siti Norjahera Beliamor (16 years old) the opportunity to gain experience competing with me," she said.

The championships, which runs until tomorrow, brought together 658 athletes from 19 domestic teams and 10 foreign countries, including Algeria, China, Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

National athletes are preparing for the SEA Games to be hosted by Thailand in December. 

-- BERNAMA