Yew Fai looks to new faces for medals
wushu coach Lim Yew Fai will bank on new faces to deliver at the Indonesia Asian Games next month.
Yew Fai has finalised his sevenexponent squad for the quadrennial games at the JIExpo Kemayoran Hall in Jakarta on Aug 1923.
And for five of them, Yeap Wai Kin, Wong Weng son, Calvin Lee Wai Leong, Tan Cheong Min and Audrey Chan Yee Jo, it will be their Asiad debut. The two senior exponents in the squad are Phoon Eyin and Loh Jack Chang.
Once again, eight gold will be on offer in the taolu disciplines and Yew Fai is expecting the competition to be just as stiff as it was four years ago.
“We have a number of younger exponents in the team this time with only Eyin and Jack Chang having experienced the Asian Games before,” said Yew Fai.
“I have not set any targets for the team as the Asian Games is the toughest competition in the sport as it combines two disciplines for each medal on offer. This makes it even harder than the World Championships or World Cup.
“With China in the competition it is never easy. We do not know which events they will be competing in, which makes it harder for us to predict what medals we can win.
“As far as I am concerned I just want to see my exponents competing to the best of their abilities and complete their routines without any mistakes.”
China won five out of the eight taolu gold at the last edition of the Games in 2014 (Incheon) with the other three going to South Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“There are not many competitions in the sport so preparation has been tricky. The Asian Games will be our first tournament this year.”
The script did not go to plan four years ago in Incheon where Malaysia’s solitary medal - a gold from Tai Cheau Xuen - was disqualified as she had tested positive for the banned substance sibutramine.
Malaysia won one gold and one bronze at the 2010 Guangzhou Games via Chai Fong Ying (taijiquan-taijijian) and Cheau Xuen (nanquan-nandao).