Asian medal shot in the arm for teenage runner Shereen

National youth runner Shereen Samson Vallabouy training at Bukit Jalil recently, - Filepic

MALACCA: Bring it on!

Teenager Shereen Samson Vallabouy is in high spirits ahead of next month’s Singapore SEA Games.
A bronze medal in the girls’ 400m final at the Asian Youth (Under-17) Athletics championships in Doha has boosted the Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) Form Five student’s confidence.
Shereen clocked 55.14 to finish behind winner Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser (53.02) and India’s Jisna Mathew (53.84).

Shereen, whose parents are former internationals Samson Vallabouy and Josephine Mary, has certainly made vast improvements in the last few months.

In March, she clocked a personal best of 54.96 to win silver at the Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil to qualify for the SEA Games.

It also earned her a ticket to compete at the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia, from July 15-19. The qualifying mark for the world youth meet is 57.20.

Last month, she won the gold medal at the South-East Asia (SEA) Youth Championships in a time of 55.02 at Bukit Jalil.

Shereen, who arrived from Doha on Tuesday, is happy with her progress.

“The medal from Doha is my Mother’s Day gift for my mum, who has inspired and motivated me to be who I am today,” said Shereen, who is competing in the National Schools Sports Council (MSSM) athletics championships in Malacca. She’s down to take part in the girls’ Under-18 200m heats on Wednesday.

Shereen, who skipped last year’s MSSM meet due to injury, has a personal best of 24.25 in the 200m.
Malaysia also picked up another bronze in the Asian Youth meet in Doha through Russel Nasir Taib in the boys’ 400m.

The Tasmania-based Russel clocked 49.02 to finish behind China’s Wu Yuang (47.55) and Thailand’s Nattapong Kongkraphan (48.02).

High jumper Mohd Syazwan Ahmad, who cleard 2.06m to win the gold medal in the SEA Youth meet in Bukit Jalil last month, could only manage 2.03m in Doha to finish sixth.



 by Aftar Singh - The Star