[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).
[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.
[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.
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).