Story by Nicole Lum/Red Sports. Photos by Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports

SEA Games Athletics

Lee Cheng Wei of Singapore in action during the men’s 200m final. He clocked a timing of 21.63 seconds to finish seventh. (Photo 1 © Lim Yong Teck/Red Sports)

National Stadium, Wednesday, June 10, 2015 — In the men’s 200m final at the athletics competition at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, Singapore’s Lee Cheng Wei clocked a time of 21.63 seconds to ultimately finish in seventh place. However, he was unable to break his personal best (PB) of 21.57s that was set in 2011 and equaled last year in September.

The sprinter automatically advanced to the finals after he registered a season’s best when he ran the morning’s heats in 21.59s.

Although Cheng Wei had a persevering run in the final, he was forced to settle for less eventually.

“I feel that I could’ve done better. I guess whacking my morning race made me feel a little bit tired for this race,” he explained.

Talking about his first race on home ground, the 28-year-old said, “It feels great. It’s great to have the home crowd behind you. Hearing their cheers is something that I can never experience anywhere else.”

Gold medalist Le Trong Hinh of Vietnam was the only one in the final who went under 21 seconds (20.89s). Behind him in second and third place were Thailand sprinters Jaran Sathoengram and Jirapong Meenapra with 21.05s and 21.13s respectively.

Cheng Wei’s teammate, Muhammad Elfi Mustapa, was ousted early after an uncompleted run in the heats due to a hamstring injury.

The Games record of 20.69s that has been held by Thailand’s Reanchai Seeharwong since 1999 remains unbeaten.

Men’s 200m Results
1st Le Trong Hinh (VIE) – 20.89s
2nd Jaran Sathoengram (THA) – 21.05s
3rd Jirapong Meenapra (THA) – 21.13s
4th Mohd Izzuddin Yahaya (MAS) – 21.20s
5th Aravinn Thevarr Gunasegaran (MAS) – 21.33s
6th Fadlin Fadlin (INA) – 21.47s
7th Lee Cheng Wei (SIN) – 21.63s
8th Sapwaturrahman Sapwaturrahman (INA) – 21.74s

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