Good experience: Andre took part in some competitions in Chemnitz and also trained under some of the coaches there.
PETALING JAYA: Athletes Andre Anura Anuar and Nurul Ashikin Abas are settling well in their two-week training camp in Chemnitz, Germany, which started last week.
And triple jumper Andre and Nurul (long jump, triple jump) intend to use the experience to elevate their performance at the Asian Athletics Championships in Pattaya next month.
They took part in some competitions in Chemnitz and also trained under some of the coaches there.
Andre and Nurul also got to work with former European Championships winner Max Hess in Chemnitz.
For their coach Firdaus Salim, he believes the stint in Germany will help to improve their performance in Pattaya, where they aim to improve their marks before the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.
“We’ve been here for a few days now and the athletes are training well. In some of the competitions we took part in, not all the events were available except in Nurul’s case,” he said.
“Conditioning-wise, they are still a bit heavy but with ample training and some competitive exposure, they will be fit for Pattaya.”
Hakimi Ismail’s triple jump national record of 16.77, set at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, is the benchmark for Andre and he has two more big events this year to match or better it – the Asian Athletics Championships (July 12-16) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (Sept 23-Oct 8).
In the Cambodia SEA Games last month, Nurul’s 13.23m leap saw her finish fourth in the triple jump. It was her personal best but it wasn’t officially recognised because there was no wind information in Phnom Penh.
Her personal best now remains at 12.97m, which she recorded at the Malaysian Open last year.
In the long jump, she finished sixth with 5.67m, off her personal best of 5.88m, which she recorded in the Singapore Open this year.
