Audray (front) competes in the 100m at the Sarawak Schools Sports Meet in Sarikei early this year.
SIBU: Coach Vasantarao Appalasamy has a big role to play in grooming 16-year-old Audray Macshaquille Hillary Jugah into future sprint champion.
When he brought Audray to Terengganu Sports School in 2018, the young lad from Sri Aman has a time of 11.19s in the 100m.
Under his coaching, Audray managed to dip below 11 seconds in 2019 and achieved his personal best of 10.78s at the Sarawak Schools Sports Meet in Sarikei early this year.
Audray has emerged as one of the state’s best sprinters and the former SMK Lubok Antu boy is excited about the prospect of delivering some surprises in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Johor next March.
“I have faith in the coach and believes he has the experience to help me improve in every aspect of my running career,” he said when contacted.
“My dream is to be among the top sprinters in the state and also win something for my country one day.”
The last time Sarawak won a podium finish in Sukma blue riband event was through Jonathan Nyepa in 2016, who bagged a silver with a time of 10.36s.
Audray started serious running and training when he was 12 years old.
He won his first gold medal at the Malaysian Schools Sports meet in Terengganu in 2016, clocking a time of 12.3s.
His talent was spotted by Vasantarao at the 2018 MSSM in Selangor.
In that same year, he took part in the Little Athletics Championship in Singapore and returned with a silver medal with a time of 11.45s.
Audray went on to represent Sarawak in the 2019 Malaysia Schools Sports Championship in Johor and clocked 11.14s to win a bronze medal.
He also took part in the Thailand Sports School Games in 2019 and qualified for the final.
In the 2019 Little Athletics Championship in Malaysia, Audray finished second with a time of 10.90s.
He recorded another sub 11-second sprint at the Sarawak Games (Suksar) in Miri last December, winning the gold medal in 10.91s.
With Vasantarao as his torchbearer, Audray believes he still has room for improvement.
“I am not sure whether there will be any more tournaments this year but I aim to maintain my top position in the state.
“I need to focus on my mental strength and also to avoid getting injured.
“With the country now entering the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) phase, I will resume training in Terengganu the moment my coach give me a call.”
Vasantarao, however, said it was too early to talk about winning a medal at the Johor Sukma. He said he was preparing Audray for long term development.
“Because the boy is just 16 year-old, let him improve according to his age. In fact, he is improving in every tournament.
“There is still another two Sukma to go for him and I believe Sukma 2022 will be the best chance for Audray to win the gold medal.
“He will keep improving to be the next Watson Nyambek. Only time will tell,” said the coach from Perak.
Vasantarao added that he will continue to guide Audray and help him improve on his personal best.
“At his height (163cm) and size (62kg), he has the quality to become a top sprinter.
“Our goal is absolutely gold and we will try our best to deliver. We are hoping for patience and believe from all.
“Sarawak has a lot of talented athletes and the only thing is they need a correct coach to guide them.”