Faizal out to make amends after missing the cut for Olympics
PUTRAJAYA: Frustration of missing the cut for the next Olympic Games has fuelled the fire in skipper Mohamad Faizal Norizan to get it right at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
The 22-year-old Faizal failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics by a mere two points.
Faizal and Ahmad Syukri Abdul Aziz featured in the World Sailing Championships in Aarhus, Denmark, recently where they finished in ninth place but only the top eight teams qualify for the Olympics.
But the Klang lad is not a quitter as he has promised to make up for the disappointment by winning gold at the Games, starting tomorrow in Indonesia.
“I hope to overcome our disappointment in Denmark (the Olympic qualifier) to deliver a gold in Jakarta – that’s my pledge,” said Faizal.
Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA) are banking on Faizal and Syukri to deliver gold in the men’s International 470 class.
“The pressure is on us to win a gold in the International 470 as we’ve only started focusing on it two years ago.
“Malaysia won the gold in this event at the last Games in Incheon four years ago, it’s a challenge to defend it,” he said.
“This is an open category and we will face a tough challenge from Japan, South Korea and China, who have experienced sailors.
Meanwhile, MSA president Datuk Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim said his committee and all in the squad would jump into the sea if Malaysian sailors failed to land a gold in Indonesia.
“I’ll jump into the sea with the others,” said Kamaruzzaman after handing the Jalur Gemilang to the Asian Games sailing team manager Megat Fairuz Khairuddin at the Putrajaya Tasik Club yesterday.
“We delivered one gold each in the last two Asian Games in Guangzhou in 2010 and Incheon in 2014.
“Expectations are very high on our sailors and I hope and pray that our sailors will continue to keep up with the good show.”
Kamaruzzaman hoped that they could present Malaysia with a Merdeka gift.
“We’ll know a day before or on Aug 31 whether we’ve won gold.
“It will be a great Merdeka celebration if we can deliver on Aug 31.
“We’re giving incentives to motivate our sailors. We’ll give RM10,000 for gold, RM5,000 for silver and RM3,000 for bronze.”