Kenyan sprinter and African 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala defeated South Africa’s two-time Olympic finalist Akani Simbine in the 100m final in the Athletics South Africa Grand Prix in Germiston on Wednesday night.

Omanyala clocked 9.98secs to win the race ahead of Olympic finalist Simbine who timed 10.11secs while Bradley Nkoana was third in 10.32.

It was the second meeting between Omanyala and Simbine, the latter who is also the Commonwealth Games 100m champion.

“My main aim was to run under 10 and I was not competing against him (Simbine); I was running against the finish line. I’ve achieved what I came to achieve in South Africa. It was a good start to the season and when you run these times at this point in the season then you’re expecting a good season going forward,” an excited Omanyala said after the race.

Omanyala was kicking off his outdoor season in the south, preparing for the Diamond League and the World Championships and Commonwealth Games, which would be held in Oregon and Birmingham, respectively.