WAI CHING SETS NEW RECORD EN ROUTE TO DEFENDING MBPJ TOWER RUN TITLE

PETALING JAYA, June 30 (Bernama) -- World number one Soh Wai Ching powered his way to a new record en route to retaining the men's Open title at the 2024 Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Tower Run here today.

Wai Ching was clearly in a class of his own as he dominated proceedings right from the start by climbing up the 552 flight of stairs of the 25-storey building with the fastest time of one minute and 49 seconds (s) to erase the 1:57s he set last year.

The 30-year-old's victory was even more memorable when his protege, Muhammad Hazim Zuhairi Azahari came in second by clocking 2:05s, with Taiwan's Ching Chun Lo (2:16s) finishing third.

"The competition today was quite tough because we had the world number 10 from Taiwan and my protege, who is ranked 12th in the world. They gave me a good fight and, since the tower is quite low at only 25 storeys, anything could happen.

"Overall, I am satisfied because I clocked the best time. But I feel I can go faster because I started to slow down in the last five floors,” Wai Ching told Bernama.

Asked about Muhammad Hazim's performance, Wai Ching said he was proud of the 22-year-old's achievement, especially in defeating the higher-ranked Taiwanese ace.

"This is a very good sign for him and I hope he continues to excel in this sport. I hope he can get into the world's top five by the end of this year so that there will be a replacement for me when I call it quits one day,” he said.

Malaysia enjoyed a 1-2-3 finish in the women's Open category with national ace Nurul Juliana Shakira Abdul Hallim clocking three minutes to dethrone compatriot Tan Bee Kiang (3:03s) and Valerie Sarah Ong coming third in 3:16s.

-- BERNAMA