Hanapiah: Roslinda must retain her SEA Games title

By AFTAR SINGH

KUALA LUMPUR: Pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu has come under fire for her uninspiring performances in the last few meets.

And national chief coach Hanapiah Nasir said that she had to redeem herself by retaining the SEA Games title in Laos.

The 27-year-old Kedahan has failed miserably in three meets this year.

Roslinda Samsu

She holds the national record of 4.40m but failed to clear the starting height of 3.80m in the Taiwan Open in August. At the Malaysian Open in Bukit Jalil last month, she again failed to clear the starting height of 3.90m.

Two weeks ago at the Asian Track and Field (ATF) meet in Guangzhou, Roslinda failed in the defence of the title, clearing 3.60m for fifth place. She had won the gold medal in the 2007 meet in Jordan with a height of 4.20m.

Hanapiah said that he was disappointed with Roslinda’s performances.

“She was in tears after failing to win a medal in the ATF meet,” said Hanapiah.

“She apologised for her poor form. I warned her to buck up and said that I would not accept any more apologies from her. I want results from her in Laos.”

Hanapiah added that Roslinda was an experienced pole vaulter and should be posting consistently good heights.

“I don’t know why she has performed poorly. I had a heart-to-heart talk with her coach, Mansahar (Abdul Jalil), on her performance and I was told that she would rise to the occasion at the Laos Games,” he said.

Roslinda cleared 4.30m in the Beijing Olympics last year but failed to qualify for the final round. In the world championships in Berlin in August this year, she managed 4.25m for 14th place in a 16-competitor field.

Roslinda will be making her fifth appearance in the SEA Games in Vientiane. She made her debut in the KL Games in 2001 and bagged the silver.

She was the bronze medallist in 2003 (Hanoi) and struck gold in 2005 (Manila) with a Games record of 4.10m. He emerged as the champion again in Korat in 2007 with a height of 4.00m. STAR

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