Kang feels the heat

SINGAPORE - National sprinter Calvin Kang recorded a personal best in the 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, early yesterday morning (Singapore time).

His effort was not enough to see him qualify for the semi-finals, though.

The 23-year-old clocked 6.75sec, bettering his previous best recorded in January by 0.01s.

The time, however, was short of the 6.71 personal best set by national teammate Gary Yeo.

Speaking to The New Paper after his race, Kang said that running alongside some of the fastest sprinters in the world gave him the boost he needed to clock his best time, which was his aim before he left for Poland.

The former Singapore Sports School star had names like Nesta Carter - part of Jamaica's gold-winning 4x100m relay teams at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics - Iranian Reza Ghazimi and Qatari Samuel Francis in his heat.

Francis and Ghazimi finished first and third, respectively, in the event at the Asian Indoor Athletic Championships in Hangzhou, China, last month.

Kang's heat was eventually won by Briton Richard Kilty in a time of 6.53.

Kilty, Ghazimi and Carter (both 6.58) qualified for the semi-finals.

GOOD PUSH

Said Kang: "I had a very good push in my heat, with a great line-up... These guys have proven themselves with remarkable times.

"In a race like this, it's to my advantage if I take it positively and push myself."

Kang, who recorded a reaction time of 0.139s - second only to Kilty's 0.122 - in the heat, said the standard at the international meet had increased from two years ago.

"For this year, you had to run a 6.69 or better just to get into the semi-finals," he noted.

"At the last Indoor Championships in 2012, a 6.68 would get you into the final.

"In fact, a lot of the runners this year clocked 6.5s in the heats."

Yeo was Singapore's representative at the last World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, two years ago.

He clocked 6.90 in the heat and 6.93 in the semi-finals, but failed to reach the final.

Kang will now turn his attention to the Commonwealth Games in August and the Asian Games the following month, where he will likely

run as part of the relay team.

He said: "In terms of training, I'll be transiting to the outdoor season, and we (the relay team) will be working to plan out relay competitions in the next few months."

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