KUALA LUMPUR: National sprinter Muhammad Azeem Mohd Fahmi will head to the Indian Open Athletics Championships, to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from Aug 10, bent on making amends for his disappointing performance at last month’s Rhine-Ruhr World University Games (WUG).
Despite making history at the WUG by becoming the first Malaysian to make the men’s 100-metre (m) final and finishing fourth in 10.35 seconds (s), the 21-year-old feels that it did not reflect his true performance, having clocked a season best of 10.20s in the United States in May.
“I am quite disappointed with myself because I know I could have done better (at the WUG). I’m not satisfied with the 10.35s that I clocked at the WUG.
“That’s why I am going back to the drawing board with my coach to be better prepared for the Indian Open. I’m looking forward to doing something (special) in my next outing,” said the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games 100m bronze medallist when met recently.
In Germany, other than finishing fourth in the blue riband event, Muhammad Azeem also advanced to the semi-finals of the 200m event and helped the national 4x100m quartet reach the final.
The Indian Open is a bronze-level Continental Tour athletics event organised by World Athletics,
Meanwhile, Muhammad Azeem still has not decided whether to compete in the Malaysian Open Athletics Championships, slated to be held from Aug 29-31.
He said this is because the competition date clashed with the start of his lecture schedule at Auburn University in the United States.
“One setback if I don’t compete is that it offers ranking points,” added the sprinter, who holds the national 100m record of 10.09s.
Muhammad Azeem was crowned the Sprint King at the 2024 edition of the Malaysian Open when he stormed to victory in 10.43s - BERNAMA
