Thipan Starts Early Training For SEA Games

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- S.Thipan, a member of Malaysia's men's 4x400 metre quartet, has started intensive training even before joining his teammates for centralised training ahead of Laos SEA Games which will be held in December.

At the Korat SEA Games in Thailand two years ago, S.Thipan and his team mates, Mohd Zafril Zuslaini, Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin and K.Amran Raj had clinched gold, recording a time of 3 minutes 07.95 seconds.

"I am now training alone with my coach Jaya Balan before merging with the others mid-year to improve our team's running techniques," he told Bernama here Monday.

He said the team's training will be held a bit later, but does not pose a problem because they had good understanding among themselves.

The Ipoh-born athlete also admitted that he felt pressure mounting to repeat the success they had in Korat, saying that it was not easy to remain champions for two consecutive competition.

Athletics was the third biggest medal contributor for the national contingent during the SEA Games in Korat, delivering seven gold medals through the men's 110 metres hurdle, women's hammer, men's 4x400m, women's and men's 20km walk, and women's and men's pole vault.

Malaysia ranked second in the competition after Thailand, raking in 68 gold, 52 silver and 96 bronze overall.

-- BERNAMA