13 young Sabah athletes to take part in Thailand Open
KOTA KINABALU: Thirteen young athletes training under the Humansport Athletics Club Sabah (HACS) will be competing at the Thailand Athletics Open happening in Bangkok, beginning this weekend.
Assistant coach Jane Mojulat said HACS were taking part to give exposure to their athletes and a chance to improve their personal best, while enjoying the prospect for medals.
“Our target is to obtain medals and create new personal best records. We hope that the exposure of competing with others from around the region will help our athletes to improve their performance and inspire them to strive for excellence,” Jane told The Borneo Post this shortly after arriving in Bangkok, yesterday.
The four-day event which starts tomorrow (May 18) features entries from around the region including from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries.
“Our athletes are all very young and most of them have very little experience competing outside the country. This tournament will give them valuable exposure and experience and we hope some of them will go on to shine,” Jane said.
The athletes include girls Nuranati Shafikah, Shayna Heather Tahing, Chloe April Koh and Nur Nuri Suharmin, while the boys are Aidil Afiffat Juakim, Adam Shafiyuddin Shah, Muhamad Anaqi Mat Kassim, Ferdinand Anthony, Muhammad Sharizan Junaidi, Jordanny Jackson Godomon, Mosses Ee, William Walter and Marboni Manuel.
They are led by head coach Raynold Peter.
According to Jane, HACS athletes will be competing in track events only, namely 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m as well as relay events 4x400m, 4x100m and 4x400m mixed.
“We hope to leave a mark in some of these events particularly in the boys 400m and 1,500m,” she said, while announcing Jordanny Jackson, Sharizan and William Walter as their best bet for gli er.
“We are also hoping to shine in the boys 4x400m. Based on our performance at a previous championship in the Philippines, we should be able to present strong challenges for medals,” Jane said.
For the record, HACS athletes bagged a silver medal in the Boys 4x100m at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, last year.
Despite limited resources and budget constraints, HACS still managed to showcase sprinters with great athletic potential.
HACS provide free training services to underprivileged students that posses athletic potential and abilities.