HANGZHOU: It will be one of the rare occasions, an exciting track showdown for Malaysian athletics fans and one worthy of their attention.
Azeem Fahmi and company have made it to the Asian Games 4x100m men's relay final on Tuesday (9.25pm) and tantalizingly, they have a fighting chance for a coveted medal. And it is not often that the country's relay teams qualify for the final in major athletics meets.
The Malaysian quartet are not in the final to make up the numbers. After finishing fourth fastest among 14 teams overall in the heats today, they do have a chance for medal.
The relay of Khairul Hafiz Jantan, Arsyad Saat, Jonathan Nyepa and Azeem earned a spot in Tuesday's final after recording the third fastest time of 39.40 seconds in their heat today.
Notably, Thailand, who won the 4x100m gold in the Asian championships in Bangkok, July last year, could only finish fourth behind Malaysia with a time of 39.57. China won the heat with 38.62 followed by South Korea (38.75).
Now, the four Malaysian speed demons are fired up to give their all against Asia's elites - blow-by-blow, stride-by-stride to complete one electrifying lap around the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in the final showdown.
Anchor runner Azeem, who won the men's 100m bronze two days ago, said: "Our main target was to advance to the final first and then aim for a new national record.
"We hope for something positive on Tuesday and will continue to remain focused so that we can clock the best time for the country.
"Our combination has not yet reached 100 per cent but it's getting better. This is the first time we ran together this year, as at the last Asian Championship (in July, Bangkok), Arsyad was not with the team."
Azeem said they were still not satisfied with their time today, and they hope that it can be improved when they go into action on Tuesday.
"We will do an analysis with the technical official from the National Sports Institute, and discuss what needs to be improved."
The quartet aim to run under 39 seconds to crack the national record of 39.09 set at the Hanoi Sea Games last year. Their best time of the season was 39.17 at the Asian championships four months ago.
