C Div 400m: Irfan of Sports School takes home gold with 54.91s effort

By Tay Jun Wen/Red Sports

Irfan (#77, centre) of Sports School takes the lead at the final bend and goes on to win the 400m final in 54.91s. Goh Jie-en (#133, right) of Catholic High finished second in 55.95 while Nigel Mun of Victoria School (#389, left) was third in 56.91. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports)

Choa Chu Kang Sports Complex, Thursday, April 11, 2013 — Mohammad Irfan Qabeel bin Md Daud of Singapore Sports School came in first in the C Division boys’ 400m final at the 54th National Track and Field Championships. Irfan won in a time of 54.91 seconds while Goh Jie-en of Catholic High was second in 55.95s. Third place went to Victoria School’s Nigel Mun in 56.91s.

The C Division record is 51.97s and was set by Ng Chin Hui, then of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), in 2008.

The runners were equally matched for the first 200 metres until the final bend of the track when Irfan took the lead and pulled away. Nigel was constantly just a stride behind Jie-en and he tried to catch up. However, just a metre or so away from the finishing line, Nigel lost his footing and tripped. Luckily for him, Nigel rolled over the finishing line to secure himself a podium finish.

Irfan said: “Though I could have started faster, it was a great and wonderful race for me. I was excited as it was the first time I was competing in the 400 metres event in nationals. It was also a new personal best (PB) for me. I told myself that no matter what happens, I would do my best. I had great and kind competitors who were also respectful and disciplined.”

Catholic High’s Goh Jie-en also set a new PB in second. Jie-en commented: “I did well in my finishing as I managed to catch up one position. I will continue to train harder and continue what I have done today. I had good and nice opponents who showed sportsmanship. I will train harder for B Division.”

Victoria School’s Nigel felt happy to have gotten his bronze medal, but admitted that he could have done better. Nigel said: “I was scared before the race which resulted in me starting too fast. I ran the first 200 metres too quickly and I could not take it at the last part. They were quite challenging opponents and it was a good thing as I had targets to chase.”

This was Nigel’s first ever medal for the 400m event. With B Division ahead of him, Nigel said that he would try to train harder and run better in hopes of beating his rivals.

C Division Boys 400m Results
1st Mohammad Irfan Qabeel Bin Md (Singapore Sports School, #77) — 54.91s
2nd Goh Jie-en (Catholic High, #133) — 55.95
3rd Mun Yit Hung Nigel (Victoria School, #389) — 56.91
4th Joshua Lim Yong Loon (Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), #106) — 57.12
5th Damon Tan Ke Hao (Hwa Chong Institution, #413) — 57.25
6th Alexander Singh Abdullah (Chung Cheng High (Main), #282) — 58.69
7th Ivan Teo Zhi Ming (Victoria School, #377) — 59.43
8th Ryan James Tan Wei Ren (Raffles Institution, #216) — 1:00.25