Hup Wei qualifies for Laos by clearing 2.22m

By AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: High jumper Lee Hup Wei cleared 2.22m in the Shi­zuo­ka International Track and Field meet in Japan on Sunday to qualify for the Laos SEA Games in December.

The qualifying mark for the biennial Games is 2.17m.

Thirteen athletes took part in the men’s high jump event and Hup Wei recorded the same height as Japanese Hirokata Sea Tiyou and Akira Tsutiya. But Hup Wei had to settle for the bronze on countback.

Hirokata won the gold while Akira took the silver.

The 22-year-old Hup Wei, the Korat SEA Games gold medallist, said in a telephone interview yesterday that he was happy with his achievement.

“I did well to clear more than 2.20m in my first international meet of the year,’’ said Hup Wei, who could only manage 2.15m in the Kuala Lumpur jumps and throws meet last month.

The Asian Track and Field (ATF) gold medallist’s next assignment is the Osaka Grand Prix on Friday. Hup Wei, who holds the national record of 2.27m, said that his target would be to qualify for the World Championships in Berlin from Aug 15-23.

Hup Wei, who competed in the Beijing Olympics last year, has to clear 2.28m to qualify under Category B for the world meet. The qualifying mark for Category A is 2.32m.

“In Osaka, my target is to clear 2.25m. I have until the end of July to qualify for the world meet,’’ said Hup Wei, who is trained by Cuban coach Jose Luis Alforo.

Besides Hup Wei, eight other athletes have qualified for the Laos Games.

They are walkers Teoh Boon Lim, Loo Choon Seng, B. Thirukumaran and Mohd Shahrulhaizy Abdul Rahman; Mohd Hafizuddin Sahadan (men’s pole vault), Roslinda Samsu (women’s pole vault), Noraseela Khalid (women’s 400m hurdles) and Tan Song Hwa (women’s hammer).

THE STAR