At the Malaysian Championships

Hong Kong had a team of 7 at the Malaysia veterans’ championships September 16 & 17, and they brought home 12 medals: 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. The Malaysians attracted about 500 athletes from 12 countries. It was the usual Malaysian setup: hot all day with a tropical downpour in the late afternoon, no pork and expensive beer. This was the 35th revival of the championships.

Mick Wong was our star performer with gold in the 100, 200 and 400. Aldo Kriel was surprised to be beaten into second in the 100m but revenged himself on the same opponent by winning the 200. Shirley Wong brought home silvers in the same two events. Dominic Wong is in Mick’s M50 category, so he could earn only a silver in the 400, but he came back with an impressive win in the 100 hurdles, beating the second-place finisher by fully two barriers. Our other medallist was yet another Wong: Wong Kee-lam, who took bronze in the 100, 200 and javelin throw.

Hong Kong had a team of 7 at the Malaysia veterans’ championships September 16 & 17, and they brought home 12 medals: 5 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze. The Malaysians attracted about 500 athletes from 12 countries. It was the usual Malaysian setup: hot all day with a tropical downpour in the late afternoon, no pork and expensive beer. This was the 35th revival of the championships, and it set a record by being the first to provide toilet paper in the washrooms. Everything looked well-prepared on Friday before the meet, but on Saturday morning one of the two sets of washrooms was locked. It was the set near where the stadium staff have their offices and pantry. The remaining set were insufficient for 500 athletes and we were directed to a set of latrines in an adjacent field.

Shirley opened our account with silver in the 100 on Saturday morning. She was closing fast on the winner at the line, but just couldn’t get there. The same opponent did it to her again in the 200 on Sunday morning when she finished one step behind and again had to settle for the silver medal.

Mick and Aldo both had timed finals in their 100m races. Each won his section easily, but when the section results were merged Mick had won but Aldo was edged into second by a policeman from India. Aldo vowed revenge, which he took on Sunday when he and the copper were drawn in the same section of the 200 with Aldo in lane 8 and the flatfoot in 2. Aldo beat him relatively easily. Unfortunately, Constable Plod won’t be in Manila for a rematch.

Wong Kee-lam is now living in KL, but he says it’s only temporary. He’s studying comparative religion. In Malaysia everything will be compared with Islam, so don’t offer him char siu. This was Phoebe Kriel’s return to competition after leading her Phoebe’s Phast Pheet team (Phoebe, Aldo and their two kids) in the family relay at the Thai championships several years ago. She didn’t win a medal, but it was she who selected the restaurant for the memorable crab feast on Saturday evening that was our team dinner.

There seems to be some dissention in Singapore. Unusually, they had two teams in KL: the usual Singapore team led by AMA Secretary Kannan and a Singapore Track and Field Association team organised by Jason Wong. There were two veterans’ meets in Singapore this year, so someone seems dissatisfied with Kannan’s decades-long stewardship.

No dissention on our team. On to Japan!

Bill Purves
(Full version in AVOHK Newsletter)