KUANTAN – Former Malaysia Games (Sukma) gold medalist Muhammad Aqil Yasmin is gearing up to once again etch his name in the local sports arena after enduring several setbacks in his career.
Aqil, who won the gold medal in the 2018 edition, will be one of the challengers in the blue ribbon event at the Malaysia Open this weekend, hosted at Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan.
At one point, Aqil was hailed as a promising talent in the sprint events, clinching gold medals in both the 100 and 200m events in Sukma 2018, earning him the title of Sukma Sprint King.
Additionally, he secured gold in the 100m event at the Asean University Games held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in the same year.
However, his career went downhill as he grappled with performance issues and injured his anterior cruciate ligament on his left leg in 2020.
Two years later, Aqil found himself dropped from the national programme, compelling him to undergo private training sessions.
Currently, he is grateful for the guidance of Muhammad Amir Izwan Tan Abdullah, a former coach renowned for nurturing sprinters like Muhammad Azeem Fahmi.
“I’ve been struggling for the past few years, but I’m grateful to my family especially my parents, for continuously providing me with encouragement and support to pursue my career as an athlete.
“I started running when I was in fourth grade, and I still have the same passion to continue this interest of mine.
“Since working with coach Amir since October last year, I’ve adapted to his training programme. The goal is for me to try to reach my peak performance again, and if possible, surpass the qualifying time for the SEA Games,” Aqil told Scoop.
To qualify for the SEA Games in Thailand next year, Aqil needs to at least match the bronze medal time from last year’s edition in Cambodia, which was 10.45sec set by Haiqal Hanafi.
Although Aqil once held a personal best time of 10.38sec, it was set six years ago during the Perak Sukma, and since then, he has been struggling to achieve that time again.
In this edition of the Malaysia Open Championship, Aqil will don Perak’s colours instead of his home state Selangor.
Furthermore, he will only participate in one event in this championship, which is the 100m sprint, where he will face off against several formidable national sprinters such as Azeem, Khairul Hafiz Jantan, Jonathan Nyepa, and others.
“At first, I intended to compete for Selangor.
“However, the management informed me that the quota for sprinters for team Selangor was full due to the inclusion of many young athletes for this championship, in preparation for the upcoming Sukma Sarawak.
“Upon the advice and assistance of my coach, I was included in the Perak squad and will only be participating in one event.
“For me, this isn’t an issue, and I need to make the most of this opportunity,” he added. – June 14, 2024