Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan and Chua Kai Yun/Red Sports.
Matz Chan of RI on his way to gold in 59.48s. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 25, 2016 — Matz Chan of Raffles Institution (RI) clocked 59.48s to win the C Division Boys’ 400 metres hurdles gold at the 57th National Schools Track and Field Championships.
His RI teammate Jered Wong (1:03.40) finished in second while Muhammad Irfan (1:03.65) of National Junior College was third.
This was Matz’s second consecutive 400m hurdles gold after he had won the C Division race last year in 1:02.87.
This was also the Secondary Two student’s second gold of this year’s championships, after he won the 100m hurdles event last week.
Matz had actually clocked a faster timing of 59.03s in the 400m hurdles heats, which was the second-fastest C Division timing in the event’s history. He was aiming to break the championship and national under-15 record of 58.73s – held by Hua Yi Secondary alumnus Loh Guo Pei since 2005 – prior to the final.
Said Matz, “I’m quite disappointed that I didn’t break the record. There were a few hiccups during the race that were unexpected. I think I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough. So I aim to work harder and train harder. But I’m grateful to all my coaches, parents and friends for this gold medal.”
Matz still aims to break the national under-15 record for the event in future meets this year.
For now, Matz will look to help his RI team do well in the 4x400m relay final, which will take place on Friday, April 29 at the National Stadium.
C Division Boys’ 400m Hurdles – Top 8
1st Matz Chan (#215, Raffles Institution) — 59.48 seconds
2nd Jered Wong Jen Weng (#207, Raffles Institution) — 1:03.40
3rd Muhammad Irfan B Abdul Rani (#189, National JC) — 1:03.65
4th Kyes Gaffoor (#249, St. Joesph’s Institution) — 1:03.83
5th Low Yu Xuan (#438, Hwa Chong Institution) — 1:04.04
6th Ezra Ho Jincheng (#429, Hwa Chong Institution) — 1:04.98
7th Anderton Lim Ka Wai (#410, Hua Yi Secondary) — 1:06.64
8th Shabbir Adnan Shakir (#226, Raffles Institution) — 1:06.74
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