KUALA LUMPUR: SEA Games gold medallist Mohd Zafril Mohd Zuslaini wants to dip below 47 seconds in the 400m this year and he hopes to get more competitions to achieve his target.
Zafril, who was a surprise winner at the Games in Vientiane last month with a personal best of 47.11, said yesterday that he would go all out to train much harder under coach K. Jayakumar to improve on his time.
“I am happy to end my gold drought in the SEA Games,” said the 25-year-old Terengganu-born athlete.
“But my biggest challenge this year is to break the 400m national record of 46.41 set by Mohd Zaiful (Zainal Abidin) in the Asian junior championships in Brunei in 2001. To help me achieve it, I need to train and compete overseas.”
His first assignment of the year is the Asian Indoor Games in Teheran from Feb 24-26. He was also down to compete in the Islamic Solidarity Games, also in Teheran, in March but the sports carnival has been cancelled.
Zafril, who will be making his second appearance in the Asian Indoor Games, did not have a good outing in his first assignment in Macau two years ago. He clocked a slow 48 seconds and failed to qualify for the final.
“This time the pressure is definitely on me to clock a good time and qualify for the final. I am physically and mentally in good shape and will go all out to give my best in Teheran,” he said.
Zafril, however, conceded that it was unlikely that he would qualify on merit for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in October and also the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.
The Commonwealth Games qualifying mark is 45.64 and the time to meet for the Asian Games is 46.35.
Zafril, who was a surprise winner at the Games in Vientiane last month with a personal best of 47.11, said yesterday that he would go all out to train much harder under coach K. Jayakumar to improve on his time.
“But my biggest challenge this year is to break the 400m national record of 46.41 set by Mohd Zaiful (Zainal Abidin) in the Asian junior championships in Brunei in 2001. To help me achieve it, I need to train and compete overseas.”
His first assignment of the year is the Asian Indoor Games in Teheran from Feb 24-26. He was also down to compete in the Islamic Solidarity Games, also in Teheran, in March but the sports carnival has been cancelled.
Zafril, who will be making his second appearance in the Asian Indoor Games, did not have a good outing in his first assignment in Macau two years ago. He clocked a slow 48 seconds and failed to qualify for the final.
“This time the pressure is definitely on me to clock a good time and qualify for the final. I am physically and mentally in good shape and will go all out to give my best in Teheran,” he said.
Zafril, however, conceded that it was unlikely that he would qualify on merit for the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in October and also the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.
The Commonwealth Games qualifying mark is 45.64 and the time to meet for the Asian Games is 46.35.
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