Melaka sprinter Khairul Hafiz crowned Best Sportsman for the 18th Sukma at Sarawak Stadium. — Bernama photo
KUCHING: The 18th Malaysia Games (Sukma) Best Sportsman Khairul Hafiz Jantan is prepared to face international challenges by undergoing more training and taking part in championships overseas if given the chance.
The Sprint King, who hailed from Melaka, said the moves could help improve his performance and personal records.
“I am very happy at being crowned (the 18th Sukma) Best Sportsman and I promise to do better. If I go abroad, I will glean experience which can help me improve on my personal best.
“I will take part in the National Open Athletics Championship in September and hope I can clock better than 21.3 seconds for the 200m event which was made at Sukma because there will be more competitions. We must always improve our performances because we don’t know who will beat us,” he told a media conference here.
Khairul Hafiz was named Best Sportsman for his successes in breaking the 18-year-old 100m record of 10.30 belonging to national sprinter Watson Nyambek by clocking 10.18s at his first appearance at the games.
Subsequently, he broke the 200m record of 21.33s set by Nazmizan Muhammad at the 2002 edition in Sabah after crossing the finishing line in 21.03 seconds.
The fastest runner at the Asia Youth Championship then helped the Melaka team to break the championship record in the 4X100 Metre relay and 4X400 relay, each in times of 38.89 seconds and 3:12.66 seconds.
The Sekolah Sukan Tunku Mahkota Ismail (SSTMI) sprinter said he would spend time to be with his parents at their home in Bukit katil, tomorrow for a day before reporting to school.
Prior to this, he underwent training in Poland and Germany since the second day of Hari Raya in preparation for the World Youth Athletics Championship.
Meanwhile, Best Sportswoman Nur Aqilah Yusof of Terengganu aspired to accept the offer of joining the national backup athletes with the National Sport Council (MSN) after taking a break to complete her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) this year.
“I was offered by the MSN before but I rejected it to focus on Sukma. My secret to success is to train six days a week. I will bring along my books to study when training and make a point to ask my friends concerning study so as not to be left behind,” said the 17-year-old archer.
Nur Aqilah Yusof, who won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the recent Sukma, renewed the national record of 328 points set by Mon Redee Sutxi in the 70m women’s recurve event at the Vietnam SEA Games in 2003, with a new record of 331 points, which is also a new Sukma record.
Other than creating another Sukma record in the women’s 60m recurve, she also won the gold medal in the women’s recurve team event (Olympics round) other than a bronze in the 30m and individual (Olympics round) recurve in her second appearance at Sukma this year, after returning home empty-handed two years ago in Perlis. — Bernama