Brought to you by Standard Chartered Bank Brunei.
Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NATIONAL sprinter Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Mohd Idris has set his sights on some new personal bests this year.
Firdaus last competed at the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines in December where he ran a time of 21.84s in the 200m event.
It wasn’t a time that he expected at the biennial Games having picked up an injury just before the main event.
“I injured my adductor muscle from over training (just before the event). When turning at the curve, sometimes I can feel that the muscle is a bit sore,” said the 23-year-old in an interview with BruSports News recently when met.
“I was confident of fighting for a medal so it was disappointing,” he added.
“This year I will need to manage my time well being in my final year. I will also have to look after my health, treat my muscles well and train smart.
“My hope for this year is to run to another personal best in the 100m and 200m events then choose which will be my main event to compete in.
“If I do make it to the Olympics, my hopes would be to give a strong performance,” continued Firdaus, who is in his final year at KUPU SB (Seri Begawan Religious Teachers University College).
He currently holds the national record for the men’s 200m event with a time of 21.39s which he achieved at the 2017 SEA Games.
He then came close to the 100m national record of 10.59s, set by Md Fakhri Ismail at the 2015 SEA Games, by just 0.01s at the Asian Championships in Doha in April last year.
When asked on how training has been, Firdaus replied: “The focus has been on core training and endurance especially after a long off season after SEA Games. I have also been doing strength workout at the gym.
“I’m targeting the Singapore Open in April but due to the condition (of the COVID-19 outbreak), I will be focusing on local tournaments as well as focus on time trials,” he added.
Firdaus also paid tribute to those who have had his back from the beginning.
“I just want to thank my coach (Isidro del Prado) for continuously supporting me to keep training and stay patient with me even though sometimes I can’t make it to training due to uni work,” said Firdaus.
“I’m also thankful to the people who keep encouraging and supporting me especially my parents and friends,” he concluded.
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