KUALA LUMPUR: Triple jumper Andre Anura Anuar is set to scale new heights at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from July 28 to Aug 8.
The Sabahan, who landed a surprise gold medal at the Hanoi Sea Games last month, hopes to turn heads again.
Andre headed to Hanoi with the target of retaining his Sea Games long jump title. However, he surprised everyone by winning the triple jump event.
Andre's gold medal feat of 16.51m surpassed the Commonwealth Games qualifying mark of 16.46m, the fourth-placed mark of the 2018 Gold Coast edition.
Despite his average height of 1.71m, he still did better than the taller athletes for the gold in Hanoi.
"I will face a similar situation in Birmingham, but this time against some of the world's top triple jumpers," said the 23-year-old Andre today.
"But I am ready to challenge them. I am looking forward to competing in my first Commonwealth Games. My target is to achieve at least 17m in the event.
"Nothing is impossible. I just need to train hard.
"Triple jump is technical. However, if I can hit 17m, I will have a chance to be on the podium," said Andre, who trains under coach Ahmad Firdaus Salim.
He will be training in Paris for two weeks beginning July 15 and will also compete in the French Open (July 24-25) ahead of the Birmingham assignment.
National chief coach Manshahar Abdul Jalil said Andre had proven himself in both the long and triple jump events.
"In Birmingham, he will focus only on the triple jump. I am optimistic he will rise to the occasion at the Games," said Manshahar.
Russel Alexander Nasir Taib (men's 200m), Irfan Shamsuddin (discus), Nauraj Singh Randhawa (high jump), Jackie Wong (hammer), Shereen Samson Vallabouy (women's 400m) and Grace Wong (hammer) make up Malaysia's Commonwealth Games athletics team.
Nauraj will be competing in his second Games outing. He finished 10th in the high jump final at the 2018 Gold Coast edition with a jump of 2.18m, way off his 2.30m national record.