Story by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck and Lee Jian Wei/Red Sports
Thiruben Thana Rajan (#242) of National Junior College edged out Ierhan Raushan (#153) of Singapore Sports School in the final 10 metres to win the gold medal by a margin of 0.04 seconds. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)
Bukit Gombak Stadium, Friday, April 17, 2015 — It all came down to the final 10 metres to determine the winner of the B Division boys’ 800m race at the 56th National Inter-School Track and Field Championships.
National Junior College’s Thiruben Thana Rajan (#242) took to a sprint in the final 100 metres to catch up with race leader Ierhan Raushan (#153) of Singapore Sports School.
Neck-and-neck in the final 10 metres, Thiruben’s sprint garnered enough momentum to propel him ahead of Ierhan, edging the latter out to the gold medal by a mere four hundredths of a second.
“It was really unexpected for me,” said the NJC student, who finished with a personal best time of 2 minutes and 4.26 seconds.
“I wasn’t expecting to do this well against my seniors, who are very strong racers.”
The victory was one to savour on for the 15-year-old, as it was his first 800m race at the National Inter-School Championships.
He added, “In the final 100 metres, I gave it all I got and I decided that I was going to be satisfied with what I was going to get. I stuck to my game plan throughout the race and in the end, it all worked out.”
Mohammad Shafiq Anshad (#340) of St. Joseph’s Institution completed the podium, covering the race with a timing of 2:05.95.
The electronically-timed B Division boys’ 800m record of 1:57.34, set in 2010, is held by Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) alumnus Zachary Ryan Devaraj. The hand-timed record stands at 1:56.70, and it was set by C Veeramani, then of Bukit Batok Secondary, in 1994.
B Division Boys’ 800m Results
1st: Thiruben S/O Thana Rajan (#242, National Junior College) – 2:04.26
2nd: Ierhan B Muhammad Raushan (#153, Singapore Sports School) – 2:04.30
3rd: Mohammad Shafiq Anshad (#340, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 2:05.95
4th: Hu Huaxin (#538, Hwa Chong Institution) – 2:06.85
5th: Chiang Jai Ming, Luke (#447, Temasek Secondary) – 2:06.93
6th: Tan Kai Shun, Ashton (#304, Raffles Institution) – 2:07.89
7th: Gideon Phong Wei Sheng [#196, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)] – 2:08.24
8th: Abdul Thaslim (#259, Queensway Secondary) – 2:08.28
9th: Nicholas Lian Yock Chuan (#64, Catholic High) – 2:08.30
10th: Wong Meng Ern, Philip [#211, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)] – 2:08.69
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[…] 16-year-old was headed for victory in the 800m final but an unexpected sprint in the last 10 metres by Thiruben s/o Thana Rajan of National Junior […]