Noor Azhar Hamid

Noor Azhar Abdul Hamid (born 8 February 1949) is a former Singaporean high jumper. His national record of 2.12 m (6 ft 11+1⁄4 in) set during the 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games stood for 22 years until it was broken by Wong Yew Tong in 1995, and won him the 1974 Singapore National Olympic Council Sportsman of the Year award.[6] In 1999, Noor Azhar was ranked 25th in a list of Singapore's 50 Greatest Athletes of the Century by The Straits Times.[5][7]

In this Malay name, there is no family name. The name Abdul Hamid is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Noor Azhar.
Noor Azhar Hamid
Personal information
Full nameNoor Azhar Abdul Hamid[1]
NationalitySingapore
Born (1949-02-08) 8 February 1949[2]
Singapore
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[3][4]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)High jump
ClubSwift Athletes Association
Coached byTan Eng Yoon[5]
A. C. Abdeen[5]
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)2.12 m (1973)

Athletics career

In 1966, the Whitley Secondary School student became the first schoolboy to clear 1.80 m (5 ft 10+3⁄4 in).[4] A year later, Noor Azhar won a bronze medal at the 1967 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games with a jump of 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in).[8]

In 1968, he broke S. Balakrishnan's national record set in 1963 with a jump of 1.965 m (6 ft 5+1⁄4 in).[9][10][11] However, he was not included in the Singapore contingent for the 1968 Summer Olympics as the Singapore Amateur Athletic Association (SAAA) had failed to arrange trials for him nor nominate him for selection.[12]

Noor Azhar won the high jump event at the 1969 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games with an effort of 1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in).[8] He qualified for the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh but finished well outside the medal spots in ninth place.[13][14] The same year, he finished fifth with 2.00 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in) in the high jump event at the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok.[15]

By May 1971, Noor Azhar had raised his national record to 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in).[16] In July 1971, he went for a three-month training cum competition course in West Germany.[17] Despite exposure to the Fosbury Flop in Germany, and the increasing popularisation and adoption of the technique by other high jumpers, Noor Azhar stuck to the straddle that he would further refine while playing sepak takraw, throughout his career.[4][5][18][19] As he had just recovered from an operation to remove cartilage from his right knee during his Germany attachment, Noor Azhar could only manage a height of 1.95 m (6 ft 4+3⁄4 in) in settling for the silver medal at the 1971 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games.[8][18][20]

In 1972, Noor Azhar was sponsored by West Germany for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, including a three-month pre-Olympic training and competition stint in Cologne, without the need to undergo qualifying trials.[21][22][23] He cleared 2.00 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in) to place him a joint-33rd in the high jump.

He finally improved on his two-year-old national record with 2.08 m (6 ft 9+3⁄4 in) at the SAAA trials in May 1973.[24] At the 1973 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games hosted by Singapore in September, he set a new games and national record with 2.12 m (6 ft 11+1⁄4 in) to secure the gold medal; his effort was also 0.04 m better than the 11-year-old Asian Games record by Japan's Kuniyoshi Sugioka, and the third best performance in Asia, behind Iran's Teymour Ghiasi (2.16 m) and Japan's Kazunori Koshikawa (2.15 m).[8][25][26] This national record would stand for 22 years until Wong Yew Tong set a new mark of 2.15 m (7 ft 1⁄2 in) in March 1995.[27] The achievement won him the 1974 Singapore National Olympic Council Sportsman of the Year.[26][28]

Noor Azhar was Singapore's flag-bearer at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games in Christchurch.[29] Despite achieving 2.14 m in practice, nerves got the better of him and he could only manage 2.08 m (6 ft 9+3⁄4 in) to finish sixth at the Games.[30][31] At the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, Noor Azhar equalled third-placed Yoshikazu Okuda's effort of 2.08 m (6 ft 9+3⁄4 in) in the high jump but missed out on the bronze medal on a countback.[32] He won the high jump with 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) at the 1975 Southeast Asian Peninsular Games after another countback.[8][33][34]

He withdrew from the 1977 Southeast Asian Games as work commitments were affecting his training.[34][35] He returned to competitive action in the 1978 Singapore Open, clearing 1.95 m (6 ft 4+3⁄4 in) for third place.[36] With his decline, he was not selected for the 1978 Asian Games.

Noor Azhar qualified for the 1979 Southeast Asian Games but troubled by knee and hamstring injuries, he gave up after he failed his solitary attempt at 1.89 m (6 ft 2+1⁄4 in).[37][38] He won the bronze medal at the 1981 Southeast Asian Games with an effort of 1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in).[39][40] In 1983, Noor Azhar finished fifth in the Southeast Asian Games held in Singapore as his decade-old game record was broken by Malaysia's Ramjit Nairu, who improved on the old mark by 0.01 cm.[41]

References
  1. Frida, Ernest (8 August 1983). "Early start". Singapore Monitor. p. 31.
  2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Nor Hamid". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  3. Rai, Hakikat (28 November 1981). "15 years in the fray but Nor still confident of medal". The Straits Times. p. 38.
  4. Tan, Shirley (17 April 1983). "Noor sweat!". The Straits Times. p. 29.
  5. Rai, Hakikat (17 October 1999). "Air Azhar, the jump kid". The Straits Times. p. 48.
  6. Ong, Terence (12 October 2014). "8 Singapore sporting pioneers you may not have heard of". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  7. "Here's the full list". The Straits Times. 19 December 1999. p. 52.
  8. "SEA Games past winners, 1959–1975" (PDF). Singapore National Olympic Council. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  9. Frida, Ernest (2 September 1963). "Bala beats 16-yr high jump mark". The Straits Times. p. 22.
  10. Frida, Ernest (3 August 1968). "Appeal gives Rosa victory". The Straits Times. p. 23.
  11. "No more a tall order for Debbie". The Straits Times. 27 January 1982. p. 31.
  12. E. Frida (28 August 1968). "Chance still for Pat and Azahar". The Straits Times. p. 19.
  13. Frida, Ernest (6 April 1970). "Nor Azahar qualifies for C-Games". The Straits Times. p. 26.
  14. "7 ft high jumper Peckham coming". The Straits Times. 8 August 1970. p. 27.
  15. "All the results". The Straits Times. 11 December 1970. p. 28 – via NewspaperSG.
  16. Frida, Ernest (3 May 1971). "Nor Azahar takes high jump mark to 6 ft 9". The Straits Times. p. 25.
  17. Frida, Ernest (14 July 1971). "Nor Azhar leaves today for training course in Germany". The Straits Times. p. 29.
  18. Frida, Ernest (2 October 1971). "Nor is back from Munich to preach Fosbury Flop". The Straits Times. p. 27.
  19. Frida, Ernest (5 September 1968). "France in so S'pore are out". The Straits Times. p. 21.
  20. Frida, Ernest (10 March 1972). "Fit now, Nor is going flat out for new mark". The Straits Times. p. 28.
  21. Frida, Ernest (8 January 1972). "Germany makes Olympic Games offer to two athletes". The Straits Times. p. 25.
  22. Frida, Ernest (1 February 1972). "Yeo, Nor for Munich Olympic Games". The Straits Times. p. 29.
  23. "Air tickets to Germany for Kian Chye and Nor Azahar". The Straits Times. 31 May 1972. p. 24.
  24. Frida, Ernest (28 May 1973). "Heather, Nor and Chee beat marks". The Straits Times. p. 31.
  25. Frida, Ernest (3 September 1973). "World class Nor is toast of Stadium". The Straits Times. p. 23.
  26. Dorai, Joe (26 March 1974). "Nor and Elaine win top awards". The Straits Times. p. 22.
  27. "22-year-old high jump mark broken". The Straits Times. 6 March 1995. p. 1.
  28. "Sportsman of The Year". Singapore National Olympic Council. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  29. "Singapore squad gets big ovation". The Straits Times. 25 January 1974. p. 19.
  30. "Singapore rely on Nor now". The Straits Times. 27 January 1974. p. 22.
  31. "Nervous Nor is a disappointing 6th". The Straits Times. 30 January 1974. p. 19.
  32. Frida, Ernest (14 September 1974). "Iran's Ghiassi beats Ni in 7-foot duel". The Straits Times. p. 29.
  33. "Swee Lee and Justina stand out". The Straits Times. 17 December 1975. p. 29.
  34. "Jumper Nor pulls out". The Straits Times. 9 November 1977. p. 23.
  35. Frida, Ernest (6 November 1977). "Nor may pull out from the Games". The Straits Times. p. 24.
  36. Frida, Ernest (4 September 1978). "Devastating Jayamani". The Straits Times. p. 21.
  37. Frida, Ernest (19 September 1979). "Now Tang, Nor and Kim Tee reported hurt". The Straits Times. p. 29.
  38. Frida, Ernest (9 November 1979). "Nor leaps out of SAAA trouble". The Straits Times. p. 33.
  39. "Another sad day on the track". The Straits Times. 12 December 1981. p. 38.
  40. "SEA Games past winners, 1977–1991" (PDF). Singapore National Olympic Council. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  41. "Over the bar and out". The Straits Times. 6 June 1983. p. 26.
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