Gunning for golden glory
Fauzi out to deliver the goods in Jakarta
PETALING JAYA: Sailing wonderboy Fauzi Kaman Shah has never missed out on a podium finish in any major international assignments which he has taken part so far.
And the 16-year-old, who was born in Langkawi, is ready to play his part to help the Malaysian sailing team in their quest to deliver gold at the Indonesia Asian Games later this month.
Fauzi will be racing in the Laser 4.7 event and is hoping for a sweet outing in his debut Asian Games.
The Laser 4.7 is an Open category contested by male and female sailors between 16-17 years of age.
Fauzi showed he is up to the task by bagging silver in the event at the Asian Sailing Championships held at Ancol Beach in Jakarta in June.
“I have been successful in the Optimist category for the last few years but I am too old for it,” said Fauzi. “It’s only for those under 15 years of age. My focus after the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games last year was to get ready for the Asian Games in the Laser 4.7 category.
“I had a good experience racing in the Asian championships as it was a test event for the Asian Games, so hopefully I will do well again.
“I’ll try my best to get consistent finishes and hopefully fight for the gold,” said Fauzi, who has a very outstanding record in Optimist sailing.
Fauzi is a two-time medallist in the Optimist World Championships.
He took bronze in the 2016 edition in Vilamoura, Portugal, and improved to silver in Thailand the following year. He also led Malaysia to the Optimist team gold at the Asian and Oceanian Championships in Sri Lanka in 2016.
Fauzi has also bagged double gold medals – in individual and team Optimist – at the 2015 and 2017 SEA Games outings.
Singapore’s Daniel Hung took gold in the 4.7 World Youth Championships in Poland last month and should be the strongest contender. Fauzi skipped the competition in Poland. Malaysia are sending 10 sailors to compete in the Asian Games with strong medal hopes also on Rio Olympian Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy and 470 Class sailors Faizal Norizan-Ahmad Syukri Abdul Aziz.
Khairulnizam took silver in the Laser while Faizal-Ahmad were gold medallists in the 420 Class at the last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, four years ago.