Chinese veterans make their mark
Teng Fu En and Bi Si Ling from Shandong province in China both broke records in their respective age groups in the women's 80m hurdles yesterday at the 19th Asia Masters Athletics Championships at the National Stadium.
Teng, the sole competitor in her age group race, clocked 16.02sec to set a new world record in the women's 80m hurdles (70-74 age group), breaking the previous record of 16.04 set in Brazil in 2013.
"I'm very happy to break another record today," said 70-year-old Teng.
"Many people think us old people can't do sports, but I wanted to prove to everybody that we still can do it."
Teng's latest win made it a personal haul of four golds, after she won the 100m, 200m hurdles and high jump and she will be participating in the 4x100m and 4x400 relays tomorrow.
She revealed that her desire to keep fit and passion for the sport contributed to her success.
"I want to remain fit and to also promote Masters events," she said.
"The youngsters nowadays are very hardworking, but I hope that more seniors like myself will join in the events the next time round."
Fellow Shandong province representative Bi, 65, broke the championship and Asian records after clocking 16.56 to claim gold in the women's 80m hurdles (65-69), bettering the previous mark of 16.80 also set in Brazil in 2013.
Speaking to The New Paper, Bi said: "I'm very happy with my performance as it's my first time participating in a Masters tournament overseas."
"I train with Teng daily, so it means a lot to us when we win and break the records."
Bi will be participating in the 200m today and the 4x100m and 4x400m relays alongside Teng.
"I have confidence in myself in my individual races.
"As for the relays, I also know that as a team we will be able to achieve success," she said. - HARESH KUMAR RAMANI
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