While studying in the United States, Abdullah trained for the Pine Crest Swim Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida under his full-time coach David López-Zubero, a bronze medalist for Spain at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

[4][5] He also placed twentieth, along with his Malaysian teammates Alex Lim, Elvin Chia, and Anthony Ang, in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:56.24).

He achieved a FINA B-cut of 4:34.50 from the Asian Swimming Championships in Busan, South Korea.

[9] He challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including 1996 Olympic silver medalist Jani Sievinen of Finland, and 16-year-old George Bovell of Trinidad and Tobago.

Abdullah posted a time of 4:36.90 to save a seventh spot over Croatia's Sandro Tomaš by a 1.4-second advantage.