Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE national athletics team are hoping to sprint their way to some new bests at the upcoming 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia.
Brunei will be represented by the duo of Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Md Idris and Abdul Hakeem Ismail.
Both are set to contest in the men's 100m and 200m events at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh.
National athletics coach Azmize Abd Rahman doesn't want to put too much weight on the shoulders of his charges but believes they will do well.
"I don't want to set too high targets as I'm afraid it will put pressure on them," said Azmize in an interview with BruSports News on Sunday.
"I just hope that they can break their personal record or the national record and enter the finals at the same time," he added.
"Training has been so good so far. They’ve been working hard and very dedicated with their training everyday," continued the athletics coach.
Firdaus is currently the national record holder for the men's 200m with a time of 21.39s, which he set at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Over in the 100m, his time of 10.60s is this second fastest recorded for Brunei.
He is coming off winning a bronze medal in the men's 100m at the ICTSI Philippine Athletics Championships last month.
When asked on how Firdaus can carry the momentum forward, Azmize replied: "Maintaining his fitness level on top and slowly increasing the intensity of the training systematically."
Firdaus himself has his eyes in new records.
"My own target to hit the 100m and 200m national record and with that, I'm really hoping to qualify for the final so that I can push more and hit another personal best," said the 26-year-old.
"Because its been a few years now that I've been hunting for the 100m national record," concluded the 2020 Tokyo Olympian.
