Jackie draws inspiration from champ Tee Kui

INSPIRED by five-time Sea Games champion Wong Tee Kui, hammer thrower Jackie Wong is looking to end a 16-year gold medal drought in his event next week.

Jackie hails from the same town of Sarikei as Tee Kui, who was the last Malaysian to win the hammer throw in 2001, coincidentally when the Sea Games was last held in Kuala Lumpur.

So it would be a happy occasion for Jackie if the coincidences extended to Aug 23 when he bids to win gold after settling for three consecutive bronze medals since 2011.

"I met Tee Kui recently at the Maksak (government services) championships and we talked about a few things," said Jackie, 25, in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

"We both come from Sarikei although I think he is now stationed in Sibu with the police force. He told me stories about his experiences and how he used to train without a coach as still won the gold medal five times.

"He said now athletes have better facilities and a coach from China but we didn't really talk about this Sea Games."

National record holder Jackie said he hopes to end the long wait for hammer gold after the successes of M. Dattaya (1971, 1973, 1979), Samret Singh Dhaliwal (1985, 1989) and Tee Kui (1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2001).

"My wish is to do my best performance," said Jackie, who is coached by China's Gu Yuan. "Gold is possible if I can perform well.

"I have been competing and training well and just returned from a 40-day stint in South Korea. We trained with the Korean national athletes including the Asian Championships bronze medallist (Lee Ywun-chul) and it was a good experience."

Jackie, whose personal best is 65.34 metres he set at the Korean Open in June, is expected to battle 2015 silver medallist Tantipong Petchaiya of Thailand for gold in the absence of defending champion Caleb John Stuart of the Philippines.

Stuart set a Games record of 65.63m in Singapore two years ago, a mark Jackie believes is within his reach and should guarantee him gold. Devinder Singh