SARAWAK, long searching for the next successor to Watson ‘Flying Dayak’ Nyambek, may have found one in the form of Jonathan Nyepa (pic).
The quiet and unassuming sprinter from Sungai Asap may not hog the limelight like his more illustrious compatriot but he is one of the top sprinters in the country.
The 23-year-old qualified for this December’s Philippines SEA Games — his time of 10.42secs clocked in the Florida track meet in the United States recently surpassed the SEA Games qualifying mark of 10.43.
He has also beaten compatriot and close rival Khairul Hafiz Jantan, the current national 100m record-holder, twice in the Perak All-Comers in the 100m and 200m.
Jonathan is currently in the United States on an eight-month training stint under the Malaysian Sports Council programme.
He trains under American coaches Dwight Philips, Eric Campbell and Taiwi Aiyo. While there, he gets the chance to compete in a few local competitions, testing himself against some of the best in the world.
In his maiden Sukan Malaysia (Sukma) outing in 2014 in Perlis, he clocked his best time of 10.64 in the 100m heats but false-started in the final. He did return home with a bronze, clocking 21.91 in the 200m final.
In 2017 at the South Korean Open, he erased Watson’s time of 10.30, clocking with a personal best 10.28, and the good news is that since the 2017 SEA Games, he has had the upper hand over Khairul.
Although Khairul won the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 100m with a time of 10.38, his string of defeats for an athlete who clocked a blistering 10.18 at the 2016 Sukma 2016 in Sarawak has raised suggestions that he was a flash in the pan.
Even Watson’s former coach Daniel St Hilaire questioned the dip in form but according to him, it could be due to several factors such as over training, lack of motivation and even a change of environment. Jonathan has beaten Khairul in the 100m and 200m at the 2018 Malaysian Open.
However, the national attention was never focused on him, with Khairul and emerging star Russel Alexander Nasir Taib grabbing the spotlight.
Russel, who is of Malaysian-Australian parentage and trains in Australia, won the 200m with a time of 20.30 to smash Khairul’s 20.90 at the Malaysian Open in Perak a few months back.
Over the years, Sarawak has had many famous sprinters such as Terence Janting, the original ‘Flying Sea Dayak’, Joseph Lee in the 1950s, Kom Tinggang in the 1970s, Watson — it could be Jonathan’s turn to make his mark.
Sarawak athletics hope to see the best from Jonathan and fellow Sarawakian Nixson Kennedy, who ran 10.28s to equal the former’s record.
While many new national sprinters are coming up such as Sukma gold medallist Muhamad Aqil
Yassin from Selangor, Muhamad Haiqal Hanafi from Negri Sembilan as well as Russel, Malaysia should not discount Jonathan’s importance and ability.
