KUALA LUMPUR: National boccia coach Aiman Hafizi Abu Bakar believes that it would be a bonus if his charges' can finish on the podium at the Paris Paralympics (Aug 28-Sep 8).
Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim who claimed gold in the BC4 category at the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asia-Oceania Boccia Regional Championships in Hong Kong, both last year, has been earmarked as a potential medal contender in Paris.
Aiman, however, does not want to place unnecessary pressure on his athletes.
"Most of the athletes (in the squad) this time are fresh faces and lack experience, so we don't want to set unrealistic targets," said Aiman recently.
"We will try to do our very best. This edition is quite challenging because we lack exposure competing in Europe. We only have experience in Asia."
Askuzaimey, who looks up to Chew Wei Lun as her idol, is looking forward to the Paralympics but is being careful to not worry about the outcome too much.
"He has been a role model for me. I once trained with him and had the opportunity to learn from him," said Askuzaimey.
"I don't want to think too much about it because the games are approaching fast, so I'm trying to keep calm and not feel too stressed."
Wei Lun clinched Malaysia's first ever Paralympic medal in the sport, a silver, at Tokyo 2020.