Muhd Taufiq leaves it late to clinch Boys B Division Triple Jump crown

Story by reader Erwin Wong

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Friday, April 17, 2009 - Muhammad Taufiq Bin Azman put it all together at the opportune time, uncorking huge jumps in his final two attempts to bag the Boys B Division Triple Jump crown at the National Schools Track And Field Championships.

"I had a good run-up and I managed to balance myself during the jump," said the 17 year-old Singapore Sports School student as he described his sixth and final attempt of 13.85m, a personal best.

"My coach (Dr Valeri Obidko) also encouraged me along the way, especially in the earlier jumps when I wasn't awake," added Taufiq.

Awake, alive and jumping he certainly was, but the 4th-placed finisher in last year's triple jump final did not make those raking the sand pit go further than they should, as he struggled to find his rhythm. His opening mark of 13.15m topped the leaderboard after the first round of jumps, but he failed to improve on it as St Joseph's Institution's Shashi Kumar overtook him on the back of consecutive 13.40m+ leaps. But Shashi knew that a comeback was imminent.

"I sort of expected it," shrugged the Secondary 3 student sheepishly when asked how he felt after Taufiq mustered a huge 13.76m on his fifth attempt. "But I told myself to relax, and continue to focus on my technique."

Last year's C Division triple jump champion, Shashi certainly did so consistently throughout the competition, registering successful attempts beyond 13 metres in all six of his attempts, and twice hopping, stepping and jumping his way to a personal best of 13.42m.

"I guess I was peaking at the right time. Next year, I hope to jump 13.8 or 13.9 metres," said Shashi.

It was a talent-rich field, with no less than seven jumpers having made podium finishes in the National Schools' Long or Triple Jump since 2006. Syafiq Poh, a perennial jumps medalist, again emerged in the top three, but had to be content with a best mark of 13.24m. Encouraged by that fifth attempt, the Raffles Institution student went out strong again in his final jump, but pulled a thigh muscle in the process, and thus repeating his bronze medal finish of a year ago in the same competition.

Kenneth Tan of Hwa Chong Institution, the winner last year, ran through on his first attempt and then proceeded to pass his next two.

In other field event finals held in the morning, Zulaikha Bte Rahmat claimed Singapore Sports School's first gold medal in the Girls' C Division with her win in the triple jump. Her 10.01m jump beat Cherilyn Lee (Chung Cheng High (Main)) and Felicia Yong's (CHIJ St Nicholas Girls') respective efforts of 9.81m and 9.68m into second and third place. Though they did not register podium finishes, Cedar Girls' Secondary School placed three – Goh Yi Ling, Vithika Nag and Cara Wong – in the top eight, scoring valuable points to keep them hot on the heels of CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' for the C Division title.

The Javelin B Girls final saw Nanyang Girls' High School's Jessica Choo improve two positions on her third placing last year with a championship-winning distance of 29.87m. Her schoolmate Carissa Lim (27.46m) garnered the bronze while Cedar Girls' Lenis Phoa (28.60m) clinched the runners-up position.

For full results, please refer to schoolsports.sg.

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