All the medal winners pose on the podium
BRUNEI Darussalam relay team of Mohd Faizul Abdullah, Mohd Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Haji Mohd Idris, Abdul Rahim Abdullah and Mohd Fakhri Ismail broke the national record in the men’s 4x100m event after clocking a time of 40.92s on their way to a podium finish in the 79th Singapore Open Track & Field Championships at the Singapore Sports Hub yesterday.
The team broke the previous national record of 40.95s which they had set at the same venue during the previous edition of the SEA Games in Singapore two years ago.
Brunei, however, had to settle for bronze behind gold medallist Thailand and Singapore who claimed silver.
Brunei coach Azmize Abdul Rahman was visibly pleased with the performance of the athletes, saying that they had met their target of breaking the national record.
“Alhamdulillah, I’m feeling very grateful and happy. We’ve achieved our target by breaking the national record for the 4x100m,” said the coach in an interview with the Weekend Bulletin.
The coach hoped the milestone would boost their chances of selection for the upcoming SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur this August.
“Hopefully with this new record, we can qualify for the Games.”
He said they would continue with the hard work and address some weaknesses once they return home.
“When we’re back in Brunei, we will try to fix some flaws,” he added.
Meanwhile, Brunei sprinter Mohd Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Haji Mohd Idris scored arguably his biggest triumph this year after clinching gold in the men’s 100m ‘B’ final.
The national sprinter clocked a time of 10.71s to win, relegating Indonesia’s Baya Kertanegara to silver (10.8s) and compatriot Mohd Fakhri Ismail to bronze (10.85s).
The rising star has been enjoying a purple patch of form of late.
He had recently triumphed in the Brunei Games 100m event, edging national teammate and favourite Mohd Fakhri.
He also stormed to gold in the 100m event during the 9th BIMP EAGA Games in East Kalimantan last year.
