High jumper Ritu bags silver in Malaysia

High-jumper Ritu Akter bagged a silver medal in Cahya Mata Malaysia Open on Friday, clearing 1.75 metres at Stadium Darul Makmur Kuantan in Pahang, said a press release from Bangladesh Athletics Federation.

Ritu, from Bangladesh Army, is the national record holder (1.76 metres) in women's high-jump event and continued her good form in Malaysia competing against 15 athletes from 10 countries.

"As part of preparation of a probable South Asian Athletics Championship in October as well as November's Asian Indoor Competition, we have sent seven athletes to Malaysia. Ritu did really well to win a silver medal clearing 1.75 metres, 0.05 metres more than the bronze winner," BAF general secretary Abdur Rakib Montu told The Daily Star.

Meanwhile, Nijamul Hossain Roni of Bangladesh Army moved into the final of 400m hurdles after finishing second in one of the semifinals with a timing of 54.90 seconds but sprinter Zahir Raihan was eliminated from the semifinals of 200m sprint. Zahir, who skipped his 400m event due to a close schedule with the 200m semifinals, finished fourth in Heat-3 with a timing of 22.26 seconds to move into the semifinals.

"We are also expecting a medal from Roni in the final, which is scheduled to take place today [Friday]," Montu said, adding that the events were deferred due to heavy rain.

Another national record-holder, high-jumper Mahfizur Rahman, will take part in his event on Saturday. A total of seven athletes are taking part in the competition.