SEREMBAN: Twins Mirza Nazran Mohd Sam and Mirza Nazhan Mohd Sam are confident of springing some surprises to bring home a medal from the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Sarawak starting on Aug 17.
The Negri Sembilan duo are unseeded in the men’s doubles but are determined to put up a strong display at the biennial Games.
“We are excited about representing the state in Sukma. My older brother and I started playing badminton at the age of 11 and our ambition is to be national players,” said Nazran.
The 20-year-old twins know they will have to play against national players and want to take it match by match to avoid putting themselves under unnecessary pressure.
They train under former national doubles player Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, with daily sessions starting at 6.30am.
Nazhan said as twins they enjoy advantages like having a better understanding of each other on court.
“The coach frequently reminds us to control our emotions. It’s normal for siblings to have misunderstandings but we do not bring our problems onto the court. We want to win at every stage of the competition,” he said.
Among the competitions they participated in are the 2020 National Championship, 2022 Junior International Challenge Under-19 and Negri Sembilan Closed Championship last year.
Their squad have seven national back-up players in Ung Yi Xing, Heng Zi Hin, Ayu Fu Sheng, Goh Shu Xuan, Hazrilz Haiqal Zaizul Fazli, Lai Ting Cen and Vaneesa Ng.
Negri did not win any badminton medals at the last Sukma and their best showing in the Games was winning one gold and seven bronze medals at the Perak edition in 2018. — Bernama
