Azreen hopes to emulate Zaidatul in becoming the nation’s speed queen

GOLDEN GIRL.......Azreen Nabila Alias of Terengganu celebrate with the flag after won the gold medal in 100m with new games record of 11.81 seconds at Perak Stadium yesterday.(18/09/2018/S.S.KANESAN/The Star)

KUALA LUMPUR: Azreen Nabila Alias (pic)starred at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak while senior Zaidatul Husniah Zulkif­li made her mark at the Jakarta Asian Games.

So, it’s not surprising that the 18-year-old Azreen wants to follow in Zaidatul’s footsteps in bringing honour for Malaysia at a higher level.

Terengganu’s Azreen has been drafted into the Philippines SEA Games training squad for her outstanding double-sprint victories at last year’s Sukma. She did a personal best of 11.81 in the 100m and 24.76 in the 200m.

Azreen said her idol Zaidatul has been her inspiration.

“Zaidatul is small but she has the speed and stamina to outrun taller athletes in competitions,” said Azreen.

“She qualified for the 100m final in the Asian Games in Jakarta last year (finished eighth) – that’s something that juniors like me look up to.”

Zaidatul was also impressive at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games when she bagged silvers in the 100m and 200m. She has a personal best of 11.59 in the 100m and 23.64 in the 200m.

Determined to be like her senior, Azreen is focused on beating the qualifying marks in 100m and 200m to win the right to compete at the SEA Games in December. She has to do better than these times – 11.74 (100m) and 23.64 (200m).

“It’s great to be in the SEA Games training squad, I’m all fired up to qualify,” said Azreen, who is trained by Zaidatul’s coach M. Balamu­rugan.

Her first competition will be the Perak All-Comers meet in Ipoh from Feb 23-24. She will also feature in the Philippines Open on March 6 before participating in the National Open in Bukit Jalil from March 27-28.