Athletics Men’s 200m Finals of  29th SEA Games 2017

An intense affair between some very competitive individuals. Sajjan Christian of Philippines, Mudhyasa of Indonesia, Hafiz Bin Jantam of Malaysia, Vinapra of Thailand, Piram of Philippines, Firdaus of Brunei looking for Brunei's first track and field medal, Poonpa of Thailand and Gunasegaran of Malaysia. The athletes that have made it through to the men's 200 meter final. So the athletes as they start, Sajjan Christian, a man who ran 21.5 in the preliminaries in the semi-finals representing the Philippines alongside him from Indonesia, also 21.5 in the preliminaries, he is a man who is proving rather popular in Malaysia right now. 21.36 in qualifying, ran a poor bend but has the flat speed we know he is the 100 meter champion and this man is dangerous. Bronze medalist in 2015 but he won the 100 and 200 meter double in Nampido 2013, Tirapong Minapra of Thailand goes in lane five. Trenton Anthony Biram, 21 year old from the Philippines, ran a 20.96 at the Asian Championships, he was 20.99 in the semi-finals, quickest qualifier alongside him Mohamed Noor Firdaus of Brunei, 21.39 and looking for Brunei's first athletics medal at the SEA Games of 2017. Man running for Thailand, quite happy to run for the country, Siripol Poonpa will go in lane eight. And another Malaysian athlete, Aravin Kevar Gunasegan, a 23 year old Malaysian, there's a bit of a hit at the Malaysian Open in July, 21.31. 21.42 in the semi-finals, sees him on the outside lane. Who will it be? Only Minapra remains of the medalists from 2015, a man who won a sprint double in 2011, much talked about, much wanted, 19 year old, talented superstar, Hyrule Hafiz Bin Jantan, took silver in the 200 of the Asian Junior Championships last year, the 100 meter champion, but Anthony Biram of Philippines, the only sub 21 runner in the preliminaries. Looks like Jantan is out of the medals, the 100 champion, Biram is celebrating a very fine run, 20.83 from Anthony Biram of the Philippines, another sub 21 second run. Jirapon Minapra, bronze in 2015, gold in 2013, looks like he's added a silver to his collection and completed the 200 meter medals. But Malaysia have got a bronze, it looked like Kunasagan going in lane nine actually got Jantan on the line. We'll wait to see which of the athletes is confirmed as claiming a bronze, but they were the two who were running neck and neck. Jantan was going to be out of the medals, I fear. This is something that might come down to a bit of a photo finish, it was a little unclear, it was certainly clear that Philippines have got the gold and that Thailand have the silver. Minapra with another solid run in the semi-finals, he took his vest off and became very very popular with the crowd and I can tell you, I can confirm that it is Kunasagan who's actually beaten Bin Jantan at the post. So the 100 meter gold medalist fails to medal in the 200 meter, despite having broken a Malaysian 200 meter record that had stood for 49 years in July. The celebrations though rightly for this man of the Philippines, Anthony Vera, 20.99 in the preliminaries and a particularly powerful run, cutting that by 16 hundredths of a second in the final to claim the gold in Philippines. Can add yet another impressive performance to their medal tally. He got away to a very good start, but Minapra on his inside as well, those two look to be strongest going around the bend, they ran fine bends. You can see that Hyrule fears Bin Jantan, just struggled to run the bend ever so slightly, was far enough behind not to have the speed to catch down the straight, but watch the finish of Kunasagan going in the outside lane, you can't see it in this shot, but Minapra definitely claims the silver behind an ever so dominant Veram of Philippines. He knew it several strides before the finish line, he would have seen it on the big screen how far ahead he was and there is confirmation as I saw it, it is Kunasagan of Malaysia who finishes third and the 100 meter champion misses out on the medal. So much hope for Firdaus of Brunei, he's looking for his country's first track and field medal at the 2017 SEA Games, he too misses out on.