SINGAPORE – He had put his medical studies at the National University of Singapore on hold last year to pursue his athletics career and a hunt for glory at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in August.

And national hurdler Ang Chen Xiang’s efforts paid off at the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships today (June 12), as he finally bettered his two-year-old national men’s 110m hurdles record.

Up against a field comprising Asian Games silver and bronze medallists Kim Byung-jun (South Korea) and Jamras Rittidet (Thailand) at the Thammasat University, the 22-year-old clocked a time of 14.19sec to finish in sixth spot. His performance also saw him improving on his previous mark of 14.38sec from the 2015 SEA Games. Kim claimed the gold in 13.39sec, while Jamras and Patrick Ma Unso of the Philippines – who won the gold and bronze respectively at the 2015 SEA Games – finished second and third.

Ang told TODAY that his decision to take a gap year from school had contributed to better results on the track, as he said: “The past two years have been challenging because being a third and fourth year medical student, I am in the hospitals 7am to 5pm daily.

“Training in the evenings when I am already mentally and physically exhausted is suboptimal. Taking a gap year has allowed me to train with a fresh mind and body, which has definitely led to higher quality sessions.”

In March this year, Ang also spent 10 weeks training at the Juntendo University in Tokyo, Japan. He is currently coached by his younger brother Ding Hui.

He added: “I am very thankful to Adidas and Usana for their continued support over the past year when the going was tough.

“I have been working on correcting certain technical aspects of my hurdling for the past few months. In the race (at the Thai Open), I could feel these technical changes falling into place and when I crossed the line I knew it was a good race.”

The hurdler will compete in the Malaysia Open later this month, before heading to Kuala Lumpur for the SEA Games in August. At the 2015 edition held at the National Stadium, Ang narrowly missed out on a spot in the 110m hurdles final after finishing ninth.

While his time of 14.19sec at the Thailand Open is just 0.07s off Unso’s 2015 bronze medal winning mark of 14.12sec, Ang is not about to get carried away. “My primary focus is always on running over the 10 barriers in my way,” he said.

“I aim to be competitive in whatever field I am up against. The hurdles is a race with 10 barriers in front of you, and anything can happen on race day.”