Sabah-born Andre Anura Anuar maintained Malaysia’s stranglehold in the men’s triple jump at the SEA Games.

The 24-year-old recorded 16.06m at the Morodok Techo National Stadium to retain his gold medal. Malaysia won gold in 2015 (Singapore), 2017 (Kuala Lumpur) and 2019 (Manila) editions through Hakimi Ismail.

Ronnie Auxilio Mapilay (15.74m) and Mark Harry Aloto Diones (15.70m) of the Philippines won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Despite the win, Andre was perturbed as he failed to rewrite the national record of 16.77m set by Hakimi in the 2017 edition.

“It was humid today, and everyone was struggling in the heat. I tried hard to rewrite the national mark but it did not materialise.” said Andre, who had achieved 17m in training.

“Furthermore, I have an injury, so I did not want to aggravate it. I will next compete at the Taiwan Open from May 27-28.

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