Story by Iman Hashim/Red Sports. Photos by Jerald Ang and Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports.
Matz Chan (RI #273) celebrates his third 400m hurdles gold in the championships. (Photo 1 © Rebekah Abbott/Red Sports)
Bishan Stadium, Monday, April 24, 2017 — Matz Chan of Raffles Institution (RI) made it three 400 metres hurdles golds in a row at the annual National Schools Track and Field Championships, hurdling home to victory among the B Division boys in 58.30 seconds.
It is his first win in the B Division, after claiming C Division gold for the past two years.
Matz’s timing shaved 0.61s off his previous personal best of 58.91s, set in the heats. Familiar rival Gerard Emmanuel Loh of Hwa Chong Institution finished second in 59.20s, while RI teammate Jered Wong was third in 1:01.22.
“I felt that my race was generally well done as it was very smooth with no shuffling at any of the hurdles,” Matz said. “It was a very intense race as I was up against a formidable competitor (Gerard), and I was quite nervous before the race.”
“I am thankful to have him as my competitor as he pushed me to my limits. I left the entire race to God, and I am grateful that I have done well and finished the race with no injuries,” the Secondary Three student added.
It was deja vu for Matz as he found Gerard, who is a year older, catching up to him midway through the race, just as it was in the C Division final two years ago. However, Matz replicated a similar late surge to edge his rival to the gold again.
While the margin was a mere 0.01s two years back, it was almost a full second this time round.
“I really want to thank my coaches, Mr Melvin Tan and Mr Vincent Quek, for their invaluable guidance and support, and my parents and friends who pushed me through the tough times,” Matz said.
Matz’s victory adds to the 110m hurdles silver he earned earlier in the championships, where he lost out to old foe Marc Brian Louis of Anderson Secondary.
Having won the hurdles double gold last year, Matz admitted slight regret in not repeating the same feat.
He said, “In November, I knew that Marc had started training and was an up-and-coming opponent, but I had to focus on (the Western Australia Little Athletics meet) which was (of a lower hurdle height, for the 110m hurdles). I regret that I totally neglected the (0.914m) height and waited till after WALA to practise.”
However, Matz said that he can only improve from there.
“I strongly believe that you reap what you sow,” he said. “As for the (110m hurdles) race, I did my best and have no regrets. I think that it’s too late to have any regrets now and the proper thing to do is to identify the mistakes and correct them. This has been a very valuable experience for me, and I plan to stand right back up and continue improving.”
B Division Boys 400m Hurdles – Top 8
1st Matz Chan (#273, Raffles Institution) – 58.30 seconds
2nd Gerard Emmanuel Loh (#532, Hwa Chong Institution) – 59.20
3rd Jered Wong (#263, Raffles Institution) – 1:01.22
4th Sebastian Doveen Marddine (#601, Unity Secondary) – 1:01.42
5th Md Irfan B Abdul Rani (#238, National Junior College) – 1:01.64
6th Chen Jiakai (#525, Hwa Chong Institution) – 1:02.91
7th Gabriel Tan (#124, Singapore Sports School) – 1:02.95
8th Lionel Koh Han (#321, St. Joseph’s Institution) – 1:04.09
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