KUALA LUMPUR: It was a trio of male swimmers Yap See Tuan, Kevin Yeap and Ben Proud who made big splashes by setting new meet records in taking victories on the third day of the Malaysian Open championships at National Aquatic Centre in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
After setting a new national record in the men’s 50m breaststroke on Friday, See Tuan continued with the strong momentum by coming from behind to deny Uzbekistan’s Dmitriy Shvetsor the gold medal in the 200m breaststroke final.See Tuan, representing Pahang, pulled ahead in the last 15m to finish in 2:17.27, breaking the previous record of 2:18.23 set by India’s Sandeep Sejwal in 2008.
Hard work: Kevin Yeap on his way to winning the men’s 400m freestyle gold medal in the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur sATURday. — SHAARI CHEMAT / The Star
Shvetsor clocked 2:18.38 for the silver ahead of Marcus Yuen of Hong Kong, who posted 2:25.68.
Despite clinching his first Malaysian Open title, See Tuan expressed mixed feelings after missing out on making the cut for the world championships in Shanghai in July. The qualifying time is 2:16.99.
“I have been training hard for two months for it and was confident of winning this race in first place. I did well to break the meet record but missed out on a place in the world championships by about 0.30 seconds,” said the 19-year-old.
See Tuan’s latest performance is certainly encouraging as he is now closing in fast on the national record of 2:15.62 held by Elvin Chia since 1999.
It was also a good show from Perak-born Kevin, who made the top of the podium in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Kevin smashed Daniel Bego’s meet record of 3:58.73 as he broke the four-minute barrier for the first time in 3:58.56.
Vietnam’s Pham Thanh was second in 3:59.38 while Vernon Lee of Sarawak took third place in 4:01.36.
“I’m happy to swim a personal best time today. I was more relaxed in the final compared to the morning heats and was able to stay under record pace,” said Kevin, who has already qualified for the world meet in the men’s 800m freestyle.
Selangor’s Ben also came within a whisker of breaking Daniel’s national record of 24.38 in the men’s 50m butterfly final as he stunned favourite Khade Virdhawal of India to win in 24.39.
Ben managed to erase the Malaysian Open record of 24.91 set by Khade in 2008 as the Indian settled for silver in 24.90.
Laos SEA Games gold medallist Khoo Cai Lin was the fourth Malaysian swimmer to take gold as she won her pet 400m freestyle event in 4:21.06. But the effort was outside the meet record of 4:19.48 set by Zheng Jing of China in 2002.
RESULTS
MEN
50m butterfly: 1. Ben Proud (Sel) 24.39 – meet rec, 2. Khade Virdhawal (Ind) 24.90, 3. Hoang Quy Phuoc (Vie) 25.67.
100m backstroke: 1. Daniil Bukin (Uzb) 57.37, 2. Chung Lai Yeung (Hkg) 57.75, 3. Ian James Barr (Kul) 57.91.
200m breaststroke: 1. Yap See Tuan (Pah) 2:17.27 – meet rec, 2. Dmitriy Shvetsor (Uzb) 2:18.38, 3. Marcus Yuen (Hkg) 2:25.68.
400m freestyle: 1. Kevin Yeap (Prk) 3:58.56 – meet rec, 2. Pham Thanh (Vie) 3:59.38, 3. Vernon Lee (Swk) 4:01.36.
4x100m freestyle: 1. Hong Kong 3:29.39 – meet rec, 2. India 3:34.35, 3. Selangor 3:35.30
WOMEN
50m butterfly: 1. Sze Hang Yu (Hkg) 27.20 – meet rec, 2. Marellyn Liew (Sab) 27.60, 3. Chan Kin Lok (Hkg) 28.38.
100m backstroke: 1. Claudia Lau (Hkg) 1:02.92 – meet rec, 2. Chan Kah Yan (Kul) 1:04.52, 3. Andrea Wan (Hkg) 1:05.24.
200m breaststroke: 1. Rainbow Ip (Hkg) 2:34.95 – meet rec, 2. Samantha Yeo (Sin) 2:38.05, 3. Erika Kong (Swk) 2:39.85.
400m freestyle: 1. Khoo Cai Lin (Sel) 4:21.06, 2. Natasha Tang (Hkg) 4:22.98, 3. Cheng Yuen Yue (Hkg) 4:30.90.
4x100m freestyle: 1. Hong Kong 3:55.31 – meet rec, 2. Singapore 4:02.27, 3. Selangor 4:02.52.
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