Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Iman Hashim and Les Tan/Red Sports.
Yusuf Arsyad (centre) of RI won gold with a 6.68m leap. Raeshon Loo of Sports School was second with a 6.35m while Ernest Ong of HCI was third, with a 6.30m. (Photo 1 © Iman Hashim)
Bishan Stadium, Friday, April 22, 2016 — Yusuf Arsyad of Raffles Institution leapt a huge personal best of 6.68 metres to claim the B Division Boys’ long jump gold at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
Raeshon Loo of Singapore Sports School and Ernest Ong of Hwa Chong Institution came in second and third, with 6.35m and 6.30m jumps respectively.
This was Yusuf’s second long jump gold in a row, after he had won the C Division event with a 5.90m leap last year.
The Secondary Three student’s winning distance this year was also a significant improvement over his previous personal best, which was a 6.40m recorded at the Singapore Athletics Series 2 in February this year.
On his victory, Yusuf commented, “I’m very surprised, because I’m actually injured. I’m just very happy and proud of myself that after one whole year of training, it has finally paid off.”
Yusuf had sprained his ankle just three weeks prior to the event. “I didn’t expect to break my PB, I didn’t even expect to win a medal today,” he continued.
He added, “I would like to thank my coaches, Mr Ng Kean Mun, Mr Vincent Quek, my mom and also my team vice-captain Varian.”
Yusuf said that he hopes to break the championship record next year, and even surpass the 7 metres mark in the event. The B Division Boys’ long jump championship record currently stands at 6.79m, and has been held by Tan Lin Keat, then of Chinese High School, for 21 years.
B Division Boys’ Long Jump – Top 8
1st Yusuf Arsyad B Muhammad Shazni (#303, Raffles Institution) — 6.68 metres
2nd Raeshon Loo Wei Ming (#131, Singapore Sports School) — 6.35
3rd Ernest Ong Jun Long (#557, Hwa Chong Institution) — 6.30
4th Muhammad Hazim B Ismail (#138, Singapore Sports School) — 6.28
5th Arfan B Azhar (#122, Singapore Sports School) — 6.21
6th Darren Lee Chin Teck (#464, Victoria School) — 6.13
7th Ryan Lim Jingheng (#335, St. Joseph’s Institution) — 6.04
8th Phua Wee Hung (#30, Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary) — 6.00
More photos next page
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