Khim Wen delivers M’sia’s first Asian Games medal
JAKARTA: Forced to put off her studies and to fight in pain were sacrifices made by Malaysia’s first 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games medalist, Yap Khim Wen.
Khim Wen bagged the bronze medal in the taekwondo women’s individual poomsae event after losing to Salahshouri Marjan of Iran in the semi-finals round.
The 24-year-old Selangor-born collected 8.30 points (pts) while Marjan scored 8.43 pts to face host exponent Defia Rosmaniar in the final.
However, the result saw the national taekwondo camp ending a 16-year medal draught in the Asian Games since Lee Pei Fen and Lee Wan Yuen won a bronze medal each in the women’s kyorugi events in the 2002 edition in Busan, South Korea.
Speaking to reporters after the semi-finals round which was held at Jakarta Convention Centre, she admitted that she had forced herself to shut out the right knee and left ankle injuries in order to focus fully on the quest to bring glory to the country.
“At first I was relieved that we managed to reach our target (semi-final) but to be honest I was still pushing for a silver medal. I did try my best but unfortunately I was injured. I gave everything and tried not to think about my left knee and right ankle injuries as I stepped onto the court.
“It means a lot to win a bronze medal especially in my discipline because poomsae is a new and upcoming sport in our country. So, to win something in the Asian Games is a very big thing for me,” she said.
At the same time, she said her enthusiasm had prompted her to temporarily put her studies on hold to fully focus on training.
“So far, this is the best achievement in my career and it’s worth putting off my studies for a while since early May for the Asian Games. After this, I will continue my studies as well as rest and do rehabilitations on my injuries and then hopefully to go for more competitions,” she added.
Earlier, Khim Wen easily beat Huda Akbar of Bahrain in the round of 16 before overcoming China’s Ji Yuhan in the quarterfinals. - Bernama