His major outing of 2009 was the Asian Athletics Championships and he set a championship record of 28:23.70 minutes to win the 10,000 m, but was narrowly beaten, preventing him from winning a distance double, by James Kwalia in the 5000 m. He turned to cross country at the 2010 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and managed to finish in sixth place in the highly competitive men's race. He returned to defend his 10,000 m title at the 2010 Asian Games and although he finished third in that event, he won the 5000 m title.