Australia Can "Fire" Malaysian Sprinters To Better Speeds - Coach

By R. Vikneswaran KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 (Bernama) -- The 2017 SEA Games 'Kita Juara' programme sprint coach M. Balamurugan is confident that the training stint in Australia will fire the determination of the national sprinters to perform better. With sprinters from the two countries having almost equal speeds, the environment is good for the sprinters to improve their times, he said. Balamurugan said there were many competitions to test the national sprinters' mental and physical strengths, including the 2017 Australian Athletics Championships from March 26 to April 2. "It will be a good experience and exposure for our sprinters. There are a lot of good competitions, almost every week. In terms of record times, there is not much difference between the Australian and Malaysian sprinters. "Their men's sprinters have personal bests of between 10.10s and 10.30s (for 100m) while the women's have around 11.30s to 11.40s. This will motivate our sprinters to chase them without getting demotivated," he told Bernama at the training session here today. National record holder Khairul Hafiz Jantan has a best time of 10.18s while Olympian Zaidatul Husniah Zulkifli set a personal best of 11.62s in the 2014 ASEAN University Games in Palembang, Indonesia. The 'Kita Juara' athletics squad is expected to undergo training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from February to March. However, the final decision will be made after a meeting between the National Sports Council and the Malaysia Athletics Federation next week. Balamurugan said the stint will serve as a platform for his trainee Jonathan Nyepa to form a formidable 4x100m relay team with Mohd Poad Md Kassim's boys, Khairul Hafiz, Badrul Hisham Abdul Manap, Muhammad Haiqal Hanafi and Muhammad Azam Masri, who are training at the Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School. The Malaysia Games 100m silver medallist Jonathan, G. Aravin Thevar and women sprinters Zaidatul Husniah, Siti Fatimah Mohamad, S. Komalam Shally and Nurul Faizah Asma Mazlan are training under Balamurugan. The Malaysian athletes will also be tested at the Malaysian Open from April 7 to 9 and the Asian Athletics Championship from July 1 to 4 at Ranchi in India before the Malaysian SEA Games from Aug 19 to 31. Balamurugan hopes the upgrading of the Bukit Jalil National Stadium will be completed soon for his athletes to familiarise themselves with the rejuvenated venue for home ground advantage. "It is very important for us to get at least one month of training at the real venue to get used to the environment and track, and to have rhythm. We also hope the new track will be a Mondo track, which is better and faster than the current synthetic track," he said. The athletics squad are forced to change their training venue from the MSN Mini Stadium in Bukit Jalil to the Uniten Stadium in Bangi from next week while the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex is being transformed into KL Sports City. Builders Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad and overseers Malaysia Stadium Corporation have assured athletes that they will get sufficient training time before the SEA Games. -- BERNAMA