KUALA LUMPUR Thabiso Moohabi of Lesotho won the men's marathon here on Sunday to give his country their first Commonwealth Games title. Moohabi broke the tape in 2hrs 19min 15sec from Tanzanians Simon Bisiligitwa and Andea Suja. Moohabi had been in a group of six runners that made the decisive move at the 34km mark along with South African Frank Pooe, Kenyan Julius Kimutai, Bisiligitwa, Suja and Englishman David Taylor. Pooe, the man in form having won the Cape Town marathon, led the move that looked to have decided the medals as he, Moohabi and Bisiligitwa broke the others on the first climb with about 10km to go.

Pooe then dropped but Moohabi refused to let go and it was the South African who cracked. As Moohabi surged into an unbeatable lead Pooe dropped away completely to finish fifth, Beig passed by the two Tanzanians and Taylor. The 34-year-old Taylor, who was born in Kenya and holds both a South African and British passport, had set the pace early on leading up to the 20km mark before the Africans took control.

(AFP)