Story by Colin Tung/Red Sports. Photos by Marvin Lowe/Red Sports
Zachary (#614) seen here with Japan’s Koki Takada. Zachary said that the Japanese had disrupted his start. The Japanese had his arms across the runners beside him, including Zachary, when the buzzer went off. Takada was later disqualified under IAAF Rule 163.2 for “jostling, obstruction on the track.” (Photo 1 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Wednesday, August 18, 2010 — Zachary Ryan Devaraj posted the first personal best mark of all the Singaporean athletes so far at the Youth Olympic Games athletics competition.
His time of 2 minutes 32.27 seconds in the 1000m heats was exactly half a second faster than his previous personal best and placed him eighth in his heat and 16th overall. The result puts him in the “B” final this Sunday.
Zachary started out the race at the back of the pack, in last position. However, as the athletes entered the final 400m, Zachary put in a concerted effort to catch some of those starting to feel the effects of following the pace of the race leader, Mark English of Ireland (58.74 at 400m and 1:57.54 at 800m).
He managed to overhaul two runners — Abdulahi Kulow of Somalia and Nelson Reis of Angola — and a later disqualification of Japanese runner Koki Takada led to his finishing in eighth position in the heat.
The fastest qualifier in the boys’ 1000m was Ethiopia’s Mohammed Geleto who clocked 2:24.40.
After the race, Zachary shared: “I was aiming for a sub-2:30 but I didn’t get close to that.”
Nonetheless, he said that he was still “quite happy” to have gotten a personal best.
His coach, Elangovan Ganesan, said: “My emphasis to him was to run an even-paced race and he did it. Consistency is the key in distance running.”
Looking towards the final on Sunday, he said that a performance “close to 2:30 would be good.”
Simon Devaraj was, as usual, in the stands supporting his son. The proud father of Zachary beamed: “I have been dreaming about this. Just to see him start and finish the race is fantastic. It’s not even about the PB.”
The second day of athletics competition also saw the boys and girls contesting the blue-riband event — the 100m.
Singaporean Liang Wei managed a 12.79 seconds to finish fourth in her heat and 18th overall in a field of 36 girls (including one disqualified). Her time was almost two tenths of a second off her season and personal best of 12.58s. The fastest qualifier was Fany Chalas of the Dominican Republic who clocked 11.70s.
Liang Wei had got off to a good start in heat 2, bursting off the blocks with a reaction time of 0.159s — the fastest of the athletes in her heat. Unfortunately, she could not sustain the effort as Ramona Van Der Vloot, Lisneidy Cordova and Shai-Anne Davis of Suriname, Cuba and Canada respectively blew past her.
Liang Wei commented after her race: “My friends who were watching told me my start was good. My stamina did not hold towards the end but I am glad to achieve something at the start.”
She also shared that she is aiming to go below 12.6s in the final, which may mean a new personal best is in store for her.
Related Stories
Youth Olympic Athletics Day 1
Day 2 Results
Boys’ Javelin Qualification
Girls’ Javelin Qualification
Girls’ Shot Put Qualification
Girls’ High Jump Qualification
Boys’ Long Jump Qualification
Boys’ 2000m Steeplechase Qualification
Girls’ 2000m Steeplechase Qualification
Boys’ 1000m Heat 1
Boys’ 1000m Heat 2
Girls’ 100m Heat 1
Girls’ 100m Heat 2
Girls’ 100m Heat 3
Girls’ 100m Heat 4
Girls’ 100m Heat 5
Boys’ 100m Heat 1
Boys’ 100m Heat 2
Boys’ 100m Heat 3
Boys’ 100m Heat 4
Boys’ 100m Heat 5
Note: The boys’ shot put qualification, which was scheduled to be completed today, has been postponed due to bad weather and will resume at 9am on Thursday, 19 August. All competitors will complete their fourth attempt when the competition resumes.
For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page
Liang Wei dips at the finish line. (Photo 2 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Zachary worked hard to keep pace with the pack. He made his move to close the gap in the final 400m of the race. (Photo 3 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Zachary gave his best and achieved a new PB. He aims to go sub-2:30 in his next outing in the “B” final on Sunday. (Photo 4 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
Zachary was dissapointed that he wasn’t able to record a sub 2:30 timing in the race. (Photo 5 © Marvin Lowe/Red Sports)
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