National sprinter Calvin Kang got his World Junior Championships campaign off to a good start this afternoon in Bydgosczc, Poland, this afternoon (6pm Singapore time), as he clocked 10.62sec to finish second in his heat and qualify for the semi-finals.
The 18-year-old, who holds the national junior record of 10.53sec, finished behind American Terrell Wilks, who clocked 10.28sec to become the event’s fastest qualifier.
In all, 24 sprinters qualified for the semis which will be held later today (1am on 9 July, Singapore time). Calvin finished joint-13th with his time.
Realistically, while Calvin could still qualify for the final if he produces a scintillating run in the semis, a medal will probably be out of his reach.
The four fastest runners this afternoon were Terell Wilks (USA, 10.28sec), David Lescay (Cuba, 10.47sec), Antonio Sales (USA, 10.48sec) and Wilhelm van der Vyver (South Africa, 10.50sec), and their times are also below Calvin’s national junior mark of 10.53sec.
Meanwhile, national triple jump record holder Stefan Tseng will only see action on Wednesday, 10 July. That is when the qualifying rounds for his event begins.
The 17-year-old will be looking to try to break his medal duck in a major international competition. Last year, Stefan finished fourth on countback at the World Youth Championships in the Czech Republic, a result which left him bitterly disappointed.
Last month, despite setting a new national record of 15.78m at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Jakarta, Stefan still missed out on the medals as he finished fourth.
The going in Bydgosczc may be tough for the teenager as he is a year younger than most of his fellow competitors. Also, he only resumed full training in Frankfurt last weekend after spending the previous two weeks shrugging off a persistent pain in his ankle.
The Singapore Sports Fan wishes both Calvin and Stefan all the best and hope they can return to Singapore with new personal bests and national records, if not medals.
Go fly our flag with pride, guys!
Yours in sport
Singapore Sports Fan
Related links:
7 July: Newsflash – Silver and bronze for S’pore at Hong Kong meet
22 June: Newsflash – Calvin shows consistency, Stefan’s preparations take a small dent
20 June: Month-long German stint for World Juniors qualifiers Calvin and Stefan
14 June – Newsflash: Stefan shatters national jumps record at Asian Juniors
13 June – Newsflash: Calvin Kang rewrites national junior 100m mark
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