KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's best duathlete Shahrom Abdullah, a former Asian number one, was among 740 duathletes from 30 countries who confirmed their participation for the Powerman Malaysia to be held in Seri Manjung, Perak on Nov 8.
He would be joined by another Malaysian, Wong Ah Tiam, and two-time winner Jason Spong of South Africa who is expected to defend his title.
"The three have confirmed their participation and so has defending women's champion Rebecca Preston from Australia," Malakoff Corporation Berhad Corporate Affairs and Communications head Yusop Rashid told reporters here Tuesday.
Since the inaugural Powerman Malaysia in 2002, Malakoff Corporation Berhad has been the primary sponsor of the event which had received tremendous response and support from world class duathletes.
"From 237 participants in 2002, entries have doubled over the years and last year 692 participants took part. This year is another record participation but we will however, limit entries to 800 as a quality control measure," he said.
The 2009 contest, offering RM130,000 in prize money, features running and cycling routines that will certainly be a test of the physical and mental endurance of participants in all three categories held - individual, relay and sprint.
The individual and relay (for two or three participants) comprise of a 11km run followed by a 64km bike ride and another 10km run while the sprint category is a 5.5km run followed by a 32km bike ride and a 5km run.
Race director Melody Tan said the top five winners in each category would earn a ticket to the Powerman World Championships in Zofingen, Switzerland in August next year.
So far, Shahrom is the only Malaysian to have qualified for the world championships and he competed in Switzerland on Sept 5, and finished the race within the allocated time.
Powerman Malaysia is part of the International Powerman Series and an International Powerman Association licenced race.
-- BERNAMA
PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
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