A Division 800m: Zachary Devaraj sets new record of 1:57.10s

Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Wednesday, April 20, 2011 — Zachary Ryan Devaraj of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) won the A Division 800m race in a new championship record time of 1 minute 57.10 seconds.

S Pandian of Boys’ Town Vocational Institute had set the hand-timed record of 1:54.5s in 1985 while Subaish s/o Rajamanickam had set the electronically-timed record of 1:57.67s in 2002.

There was anticipation in the crowd about the duel between Zachary and Seow Yeong Yang of Raffles Institution. Yeong Yang eventually finished second in 2:01.77.

“He beat me twice at the Singapore Athletic Association Track and Field Series 2 meet and National Juniors in our previous two races. In the first race, he caught me at the last 100m and in the second race at the National Juniors, we were side by side for the last 50m,” said Zachary, 16.

“I think he was a bit tired (today) because he had a race in the morning. I was expecting Yeong Yang to be closer. Usually, he will catch up at the last bend,” said Zachary.

“I just whacked the first 600m. My first lap was 56s, on pace. At the 600m mark, it was 1:26,” added Zachary about his race plan.

Yeong Yang, who ran his first ever sub-2 minute 800m in beating Zachary at the Singapore Junior Athletic Championships 1:59.5 to 1:59.9 (hand-timed), was coming off a 400m final in the morning. He clocked another sub-50s time and was denied the gold only by schoolmate Ng Chin Hui’s mammoth 48.98s performance.

“I was a little tired from my 400m final in the morning, and ran the first lap slower than I should have done. From that point on, Zachary already had a huge lead and it was very hard to close him down,” said Yeong Yang.

Zachary broke the National Under-17 800m record* on April 3rd when he clocked a time of 1:54.14 at the SAA’s Track and Field Series 3 meet, and will be gunning for more. His next race is the 1500m final on Wednesday, April 27th, the final day of the championships.

The A Division hand-timed and electronically-timed records are 4:00.3 and 4:06.40 respectively. The national under-17 record is 4:02.5. Zachary’s personal best is 4:06.11, set at last year’s ASEAN Schools Games.

*Zachary did not break the U-17 record because according to IAAF rules, he was not considered under 17 at the time.

A Boys’ 800m Final Results

Position/Name/School/Time

1. Zachary Devaraj, Anglo-Chinese Sch (Independent) — 1:57.10 (new electronically-timed record)
2. Seow Yeong Yang, Raffles Institution — 2:01.77
3. Chin Joo Ern, Hwa Chong Institution — 2:02.73
4. Aw Xin Sheng Freeman, Hwa Chong Institution — 2:03.28
5. Lee Guan Lin, Raffles Institution — 2:03.47
6. R Kartik, Anglo-Chinese Sch (Independent) — 2:04.36
7. Sim Zhi Jian, Hwa Chong Institution — 2:04.78
8. Roy Chiang Wei Hao, Victoria Junior College — 2:05.64
9. Yeo Jun Kang Sherwin, Victoria JC — 2:08.16
10. Chew Liang Yuh, Temasek JC — 2:09.83
11. Loh Zhen Yao Gavin, National JC — 2:10.23
12. Benjamin Soh Yuan Zheng, Anglo-Chinese Sch (Independent) — 2:10.52
13. Meiyappan Karthik, National JC — 2:11.04
14. Teng Wee Loong Joel, National JC — 2:13.03
15. Lim Tee Yong, Catholic JC — 2:13.77
16. Ng Teck Boon Gavin, Victoria JC — 2:14.25

Video shown with permission of SAA and SSSC