KUALA LUMPUR — The national wushu squad has the potential to deliver Malaysia’s first medal at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games to be held from September 23 to October 8.
Chef de mission Datuk Chong Kim Fatt said that based on the competition schedule, wushu athletes will have the opportunity to kickstart the national contingent’s medal collection once their events start on September 24, less than 12 hours after the opening of the games.
Chiong, who is also the Wushu Federation of Malaysia (WFM) president, named 2017 world champion Wong Weng Son (men’s Changquan) as one of the medal prospects this time.
“Weng Son missed out on the gold medal at the Cambodia SEA Games (in May) after suffering breathing problems due to Covid-19. After switching medication, he is now in a better condition to give some tough competition.
“Let’s pray the Wushu squad is able to secure the first medal which would then inspire the rest of the contingent.
“I hope all Malaysians will be solidly behind our athletes at the Asian Games,” he said at a dinner with the media last night.
Weng Son, who has since collected one gold, six silver and one bronze at the World Championships since 2015, in addition to three gold medals at the World Cup, took the silver through the Jianshu+Qiangshu event and a Changquan bronze at the recent Cambodia SEA Games.
In recent times, the wushu camp has become the country’s first gold medal contributor, including at the Philippines 2019 SEA Games and Cambodia in 2023, in addition to the country’s first gold in the history of the World University Games in Chengdu, China in July.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, who was also present at the event, advised the country’s athletes, especially those who will be competing in the Asiad for the first time, not to be nervous or worried.
“Athletes, do not need to worry… with strong support and infrastructure, everything is ready, and we hope there will be some good performances from Malaysia.
“We also have a female deputy CDM (Associate Prof Dr Farrah Hani Imran) to ensure that the needs of female athletes are taken care of,” he said.
In this edition, the Malaysian contingent has set a target of 27 medals through 13 sports – diving, badminton, track cycling, equestrian, hockey, karate, archery, athletics, sailing, sepak takraw, squash, wushu and esports. — September 13, 2023