KUALA LUMPUR: Even though high jump coach Alex Stewart courted controversy at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games no thanks to his antics and actions during the final of the high jump event, national high jump athlete, Nauraj Singh Randhawa will still keep faith with the Australian born coach as he prepares for the Asian Games in Indonesia come August.
According to Nauraj, Stewart will link up with him when he takes part in the Shizuoka International Championships in Japan which takes place next Thursday (May 3).
"Yes, for sure Alex Stewart will be with me. We leave for Japan on Monday (April 30) and I will be back in the country for the Malaysia Open (May 11-13) without Stewart,” said Nauraj.
The 26-year-old national athlete said that at present he trains in the country and Stewart will accompany him when he competes in a few overseas athletics championships.
"After the Malaysia Open, I will take a few days off to rest because I could not do so since the Commonwealth Games, and before I was away in Europe for six weeks as I was competing in athletics championships over there,” said Nauraj.
The Johor born athlete’s was given the target to win a medal in Gold Coast, however he failed to perform as he only managed a jump of 2.18m in the final, compared to the national record of 2.30m which he achieved and set at the Singapore Open in April last year.
Not only did he fail to perform, but his coach Stewart caused controversy when he celebrated the success of Australian high jumper Brandon Starc by handing the Australian flag to the athlete despite being clad in the Malaysian contingent’s official attire.
Nauraj explained that he was actually very disappointed with his performance during the Commonwealth Games, so much so that he returned immediately back to Malaysia.
"I was determined to find out where I went wrong and the reasons behind what had happened over there at the time. I am lucky because I have a good team in the Podium Programme and they managed to identify a lot of things for me so that I can perform even better.
"I want to make sure that such things (poor performance) do not happen again, especially as I prepare to compete in the Asian Games. For sure I am determined to return to my true level of performance,” stressed Nauraj.
Nauraj said that competition at the Asian Games will be much tougher compared to the Commonwealth Games as two medalists from the World Championships will also be competing in Indonesia.
Earlier during a press conference, Nauraj also clarified in an effort to clear his name, that he does not have any endorsement contract or agreement with sporting goods and equipment distributor, Universal Fitness & Leisure Sdn Bhd (UFL).
