Kedah 400m hurdler Firdaus picked for Asian All-Stars meet in Almaty

KUALA LUMPUR: Mohd Firdaus Mazalan has no regrets skipping the World Junior Atheltics Championships in Barcelona next month to feature for his state in Sukma in Kuantan from July 7-16 as he has another shot at competing in an international meet.

The 400m hurdler from Kedah is among four Malaysians chosen by the Asian Athletic Association (AAA) to compete in the fourth Asian All-Stars meet in Almaty, Kazakhstan, this weekend.

The others are middle distance runner Mohd Jironi Riduan, shot putter Adi Aliffudin Husin and woman triple jumper Noor Amirah Mohd Nafiah.

The 18-year-old Firdaus said he was honoured to get an invitation from AAA to compete against the best athletes in Asia in the two-day meet.

“It isn’t every time an athlete like me gets a chance to feature in a top level competition in Asia.

“I will use the meet to improve my personal best of 52.50, which I did at the Kedah Open in April to beat the qualifying mark of 53.34 for the world juniors,” said Firdaus.

“The competition in Almaty will also be a good exposure for me ahead of Sukma.

“I’m not at all disappointed to miss the world meet as I don’t stand a chance to win a medal in Barcelona,” said Firdaus, who is the favourite to win the gold medal in Sukma.

Shot putter Adi, who broke his national record with a throw of 17.53m en route to winning the silver medal at the SEA Games last November, is not expecting to do particularly well in Almaty.

“The Asian All-Stars is my first competition this year. I’ve only been training once a day because of my studies at UPM (Universiti Putra Malaysia). I’m just hoping to clear a distance of 17 metres,” said Adi. The 24-year-old from Terengganu is majoring in human resource development.

The Asian meet will also be a good exposure for Noor Amirah, who has a personal best of 13.60m in the triple jump.

The Perak lass hopes the stiff challenge expected will drive her to perform even better.