KUALA LUMPUR: National swimmer Dhuha Zulfikry has shown he is back near his best after overcoming injury setbacks, posting times close to his personal best ahead of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Asian Games later this year.
The 18-year-old was hampered by a pinched nerve in his shoulder, which dashed his hopes of winning a medal at the Thailand SEA Games last December.
After a successful recovery, Dhuha underlined his return to form by winning the 800m freestyle at the Malaysian Open last month in 8:13.90s, a time that brought him close to his personal best.
His time was just 1.23s shy of his personal best of 8:12.67s, recorded in 2023 in Australia.
His Malaysian Open time was also a vast improvement on the 8:21.92s he set at the Malaysia Invitational Age Group Championships in February.
“I made an improvement of more than eight seconds between the two meets,” said Dhuha.
“My time was very near to my personal best, by one second. I am slowly coming back to my prime when I swam that 8:12s, so I am pretty happy.
“I’m getting better. As you can see from the previous events, I had races that went well and some that did not but we learn from the mistakes.”
The result signalled his steady return to the form that once made him one of the country’s most promising middle and long-distance swimmers after Khiew Hoe Yean.
Dhuha also showed his versatility across the Malaysian Open, finishing second in the 400m freestyle final in 3:58.37s behind Hoe Yean and winning the 1,500m freestyle in 15:58.92s.
But before the major international assignments, Dhuha’s attention for the year was directed closer to home in a domestic meet.
“One of the most important things for me this year is the Malaysia Games (Sukma) as I want to do well again for Federal Territories,” added Dhuha, who splashed to six gold medals at the last Sukma in Sarawak two years ago.
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