Nuzul Azwan eyeing pentaque gold in Sea Games

National petanque player Mohamad Nuzul Azwan Ahmad Temizi hopes to become the first gold medal winner for petanque at the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games after failing a similar effort two years ago.

The Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia automotive engineering student said no Malaysian has won a gold medal in petanque since the sport was first included in 2001.

The Kuala Kangsar, Perak lad who competes in the men's category told Bernama that he and his team mates were preparing for the Pattaya Petanque Master championships, scheduled from March 8-10 in Thailand.

"The championships will be the best platform for and my team mates to gauge our ability against other renown players in the world, especially from France who are the pioneers in the sport," he said.

Nuzul Azwan, 24, said since the sport requires a high level of technical expertise and focus, players would need to continuously upgrade their skills to remain competitive.

"If we don't improve our skills, we cannot compete against the best players in the world. Players from France are a force to be reckoned with," he said.

For the record, the national petanque team managed two silver medals in the 2009 SEA Games hosted by Laos.