Andre to focus on triple jump from now on
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Now that he has got his hands on the Malaysia Games (Sukma) long jump gold medal, national athlete Andre Anura Anuar plans to focus more on the triple jump event.
The 22-year-old Sabahan previously competed in both the jump events at the international level.
“For the long jump, we still have Luqman Hakim Ramlan. So, it’s better that I focus on the triple jump and he on the long jump,” Andre Anura told reporters after the prize-presentation ceremony at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Earlier, Andre Anura, who is making his third appearance in Sukma since the 2016 edition in Sarawak, cleared 7.40 metres (m) to clinch his first-ever gold in the event, although it was way off the national record of 8.02m that he had set en route to bagging a silver at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
However, his mark today was still better compared to the 7.24m he cleared en route to finishing fifth at the Hanoi SEA Games in Vietnam on May 15. Two days later, he bounced back to clinch the triple jump gold with a personal best of 16.51m.
Terengganu’s Muhammad Shahrizal Nasharuddin Isham (7.25m) and Sabah’s Muhammad Sunik Muslimin (7.24m) settled for silver and bronze in the men’s long jump event today.
Andre Anura is set to defend the triple jump gold medal, which he won at the Perak Sukma in 2018, tomorrow (Sept 17).
He said this edition of Sukma would be his final outing this year as he would then focus on starting his preparation and conditioning for several multi-sports meets next year, including the Cambodia SEA Games in 2023 and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
Meanwhile, Penang’s Sriven Tan won the men’s 10,000m walk in 48 minutes and 15.460 seconds earlier today.
Melaka’s Fakhrul Razi Jailani (48:21.080s) and Negeri Sembilan’s M. Sivanesh (50:42.840s) took silver and bronze respectively.
-- BERNAMA
