PUTRAJAYA: On current form, defending champion Nor Sarah Adi is not expected to face any problem defending the women’s pole-vault gold medal at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia this May.
The confidence expressed by the country’s athletics head coach Zaki Sadri stems from the outstanding achievement of the Hanoi SEA Games gold medallist last year while also taking into account her success in scooping the silver medal at the Taiwan Indoor Athletics Championships last month.
“If you follow her current performance, (Nor) Sarah is still relevant (for the gold target) because she just participated in Taiwan and her performance is still consistent.
“We hope (Nor) Sarah can focus on ensuring that the country retains the gold medal at the SEA Games,” he said when met at the Cambodian SEA Games Medal Target-Setting Workshop here yesterday.
Zaki said the 22-year-old athlete is now under the tutelage of former national women’s pole-vaulter, Roslinda Samsu.
He said Nor Sarah was also asked to focus on training for the 4×100 metres event with coach Mohd Poad Md Kassim before going to the biennial games.
At the previous edition in Hanoi, Nor Sarah won bronze with the women’s sprint quartet, but brilliantly brought home the gold medal for pole-vault.
Meanwhile, 2023 Cambodia SEA Games athletics team manager Datuk R. Annamalai said the national squad was determined to surpass the achievements of the previous edition in Hanoi by winning five gold, two silver and five bronze medals.
“The target placed on the athletic team is no more than 10 gold medals. After this workshop, we will decide how many we can achieve, but it is (projected to be) more than in Hanoi,” he said.
Meanwhile, he did not place high hopes in the men’s 100 metres following the absence of the country’s sensational sprinter, Muhammad Azeem Fahmi, but hoped that others would be able to stage a surprise in Cambodia. – BERNAMA
