KUALA LUMPUR − National athlete Nauraj Singh Randhawa is looking forward to continuing Malaysia’s dominance in the SEA Games men’s high jump event in the absence of defending champion and former teammate Lee Hup Wei.
Malaysia has won the men’s high jump gold medal in every edition since 1977 at the biennial Games with the exception of the 2005 SEA Games in Manila where Nguyen Duy Bang of Vietnam claimed the gold.
Nauraj, who holds the national record with a jump of 2.30m, won consecutive gold medals in the 2013 Naypyidaw, 2015 Singapore and 2017 Kuala Lumpur editions.
But the 30-year-old lost the title to Hup Wei at the 2019 edition in the Philippines on countback with Hup Wei clinching his fourth gold after winning the first three in the 2007, 2009 and 2011 editions.
With 34-year-old Hup Wei now retired, Nauraj will have the company of Mohamad Eizlan Dahalan, 22, at the Hanoi Games from May 12-23.
“I want to win the gold for Malaysia − I am not so interested in the height (to record a new season best) so it doesn’t matter. I am training hard now to be in the best condition for the SEA Games.
“I will show up there giving all that I have − 110% − and whatever comes with that, I will be very delighted,” he said during a sponsorship ceremony with Ajinomoto (Malaysia) Berhad (AMB) at the National Sports Council here yesterday.
Nauraj, who has a season best of 2.27m set in an indoor meet in January, said he is giving equal attention to all the major competitions this year starting with the SEA Games, followed by the Birmingham Commonwealth Games from July 28 to August 8 and the Hangzhou Asian Games from September 10-25.
Meanwhile, the Johor-born athlete, who is currently based in Germany, said the collaboration with AMB provides him with beneficial nutrition that will help him to perform better and speed up his recovery process.
Apart from Nauraj, heptathlete Norliyana Kamaruddin and national women’s discus throw record holder Queenie Ting Kung Ni, were also provided with Ajinomoto’s Kachimeshi-winning meal − planned and developed specifically for athletes based on aminovital (jelly drink with amino acids). – Bernama, April 21, 2022
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