Skip to main content

The enemy within keeps Fong Ying on her toes


By LIM TEIK HUAT

PETALING JAYA: Wushu exponent Chai Fong Ying (pic) not only has to watch out for the foreign challengers but she also has to look out for the enemy within in her defence of the SEA Games title in Laos.

Fong Ying returned home empty-handed from her third world championship campaign in Toronto last month.

The 23-year-old not only failed to retain the women’s taijiquan title but she suffered the humiliation of being placed outside the top 10 in the event won by Indonesian Lindswell. Fellow Malaysian Ng Shin Yii just missed out on the bronze medal by 0.1 point in fourth place.

However, Shin Yii was not to be denied a medal, taking the silver in the taijijian (taiji sword) discipline. Lindswell, who had already created history as the first Indonesian world wushu champion, took the bronze ahead of Fong Ying.

Shin Yii was forced to switch to the taiji disciplines after a serious ankle injury three years ago and has certainly made big progress since then.

She was the bronze medallist in the 2006 Doha Asian Games in the combined taijiquan and taijijian events won by Fong Ying.

The two disciplines will also be combined to offer a single gold medal in the Laos Games and Fong Ying reckons the competition will be much tougher compared to the 2007 Korat Games.

“Unlike previously, I don’t see myself as the clear favourite. The Indonesian girl will be a very strong contender for the gold medal. She has improved a lot this year and also won gold in the World Juniors. I also have to look out for my team-mate as she has showed her ability as well,” said the University Putra Malaysia accounting undergraduate.

Fong Ying has not won a major competition this year and it has only made her more determined to practise harder for the Laos Games. She also finished out of the medals in the World Games in Kaohsiung in July.

“I will try my best to put up better performances and hope they will be good enough,” said Fong Ying, who was one of the two Malaysian gold medallists at the 2007 Korat Games.

The other gold medallist was Diana Bong Siong Lin in the nanquan combined events.

Malaysia have a team of 14 exponents for the Laos Games and they are hopeful of repeating a two-gold haul. STAR

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...

Atlet Tempuhi Empat Kejohanan Besar Sebelum Olimpik Rio 2016

KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Mei (Bernama) -- Empat temasya sukan penting yang dijadual berlangsung mulai Disember ini hingga 2015 menjadi medan persiapan atlet negara sebelum menghadapi cabaran Sukan Olimpik 2016 di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, kata Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Khairy Jamaluddin Jumaati. Kejohanan berkenaan ialah Sukan SEA di Myanmar pada Disember, Sukan Asia 2014 di Incheon, Korea Selatan, Sukan Komanwel 2014 di Glasgow, Scotland dan Sukan SEA 2015 di Singapura. Bercakap kepada pemberita selepas melawat Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN) di Bukit Jalil di sini, Khairy berkata kesemua temasya sukan itu dilihat amat penting dalam memastikan impian negara untuk membawa pulang pingat emas Olimpik pertama menjadi kenyataan. "Kita di Kementerian Belia dan Sukan (KBS) mahupun MSN akan memastikan semua atlet mendapat bantuan sewajarnya dalam melakukan persiapan ke arah membawa pulang pingat emas pertama negara di Rio de Janeiro, Brazil nanti," katanya. Dalam perkemb...

Uber Cub: Malaysian squad Can Spring A Surprise - Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek remains confident that the national Uber Cup squad can spring a surprise when Malaysia hosts the Thomas and Uber Cup finals at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil from May 9-16. He said despite not being the favourite, the women's team was able to surprise everyone by winning the gold medal at the Laos SEA Games. "I am confident they (Uber Cup team) will be able to produce a similar surprise. Not only are they capable of reaching the semi-final, they can go further," he told reporters after having lunch with national shuttlers here Thursday. National badminton Team manager Datuk Syed Abu Bakar Abdullah who echoed the minister's confidence said: "In Laos, nobody expected the women's team to win the world, so why not the Uber Cup? All they need to do is try their very best." Women's team captain Wong Pei Tty said she and her team-mates have set a target of r...