Zaidatul, who last won a medal when she bagged a silver at the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, clocked 23.60s to finish behind Singapore’s Veronica Shanti Pereira, who retained the gold with a time of 22.69s, and Vietnam’s Thi Nhi Yen Tran (23.54s).
Zaidatul admitted that she initially refused to compete in the event after finishing empty-handed in the last two editions but changed her mind after being persuaded by coach Poad Kassim.
“Today, I only targeted making the final so Alhamdulillah, I am grateful (for the bronze medal) because it’s been a long time since I’ve won an individual medal,” she told reporters.
The 29-year-old, who holds the national women’s 100m record, hopes her performance today can spur her to do better in the 4x100m race on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Nyepa missed out on a podium finish when he could only finish fourth in the men’s 200m final after clocking 21.31s.
Thailand’s Soraoat Dapbang (20.62s) clinched gold while Vietnam’s Ngoc Nghia Ngan (20.84s) took silver with Indonesia’s former world Under-20 champion Lalu Muhammad Zohri (21.02s) settling for bronze.
Jonathan, who seemed satisfied with his fourth placing, has vowed to focus on the men’s 4x100m race.
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