KUALA LUMPUR – Cambodia SEA Games athletics head coach Mohd Zaki Sadri is confident that national athlete Nor Sarah Adi can defend her SEA Games pole vault gold medal.
Following her silver medal finish at the Taiwan International Indoor Championships last month, Zaki said she has been consistent with her 4m height clearance and can defend her gold medal at the Cambodia SEA Games from May 5 to 17.
“Looking at her current performance, she has been very consistent. We are hoping that she can stay focused and reclaim her gold medal from last year,” he said at the SEA Games medal target workshop in Cyberjaya today.
Even though 22-year-old Sarah is currently still getting guidance from former athletics head coach Manshahar Abdul Jalil whose contract ended in February, Zaki said it is not an issue.
“There is no problem with that because for Taiwan, we had put her under coach Roslinda Samsu.
“Maybe from a training standpoint, things can be slightly different, but based on her Taiwan results being consistently at 4m, we can use that as a yardstick and determine that there is nothing to be concerned about.
“There will always be issues when there is a change in coaches, especially personally. But I know Sarah is mature and can remain consistent in her performance,” he said.
For Cambodia next month, Zaki said he wants Sarah to focus more on the sprint stage of her pole vault.
“From what I saw, she won gold last year in Hanoi because of her sprint at the start, which showed good speed.
“She is now under coach Mohd Poad Md Kassim for her sprint training. It works out for her because she will also be competing in the 4x100 event,” he added.
Sarah is currently coming to grips with her new pole for Cambodia after her favourite pole “went missing” just before competing during the Malaysian Games last year.
Besides defending her gold medal from Hanoi, Sarah will also be looking to improve on her bronze medal in the 4X100m event last year.
Meanwhile, Cambodia SEA Games chef de mission Datuk Mohd Nasir Ali said is confident the contingent can bring home medals this year following last year’s medal tally of 39 gold medals, 45 silver, and 90 bronze.
The games medal target will be announced on April 30 during the Jalur Gemilang flag handover ceremony to the contingent. – The Vibes, April 13, 2023
