Teen Fu Kang tops 50m breaststroke in good time
KUALA LUMPUR: Breaststroke specialist Wong Fu Kang showed he’s back in the groove when he posted a good time to win the 50m event at the Malaysian Open yesterday.
The 19-year-old clocked a time of 28.76, just shy of his national record of 28.55 to finish ahead of Melaka’s Foong Tze Wei, who timed 29.25 at the National Aquatic Centre.
Jexter Jansen Chua of the Philippines took the bronze with a time of 29.70.
The gold is Fu Kang’s second after he won the 100m on Thursday. He finished the fourday meet with two golds and a silver.
The Johor swimmer has fallen off the radar since an impressive SEA Games debut in 2015.
Then, the 16-year-old Fu Kang grabbed a gold in the 100m race and a bronze in the shorter 50m swim.
Fu Kang has struggled to reproduce the same form and has been unable to even meet his national record times in both the 50m and 100m events.
A relieved Fu Kang was satisfied.
“I did 28.94 in the morning preliminaries and I was expecting to clock around 28.6,” said Fu Kang.
“I did think about the national record and to clock 28.76 is not too bad at all.
“It was within expectations and I’m happy with my times especially since I’ve struggled for a couple of years now.
“I don’t really know why I’ve struggled so much. I used to have some pain on my knee and shoulders and perhaps that affected my training programme.
“But I’m feeling healthy now. I’ve also moved from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur since last year and I hope to keep improving,” he added.
Meanwhile, Olympian Welson Sim, who has been troubled by a heel injury, strolled to his third gold by winning the 1,500m freestyle event with a time of 16:18.35.
“It was an embarrassing swim, actually. I was no where near a good time at all,” admitted Welson, who also won the 200m and 400m freestyle events earlier.
RESULTS
● MEN
50m breaststroke: 1. Wong Fu Kang (Joh) 28.76, 2. Foong Wei Tze (Mel) 29.25, 3. Jexter Jansen Chua (Phi) 29.70.
50m freestyle: 1. Keith Lim Kit Sern (FT) 23.59, 2. Chan Yang (Sel) 23.72, Chan Jie (Sel) 23.83. 200m butterfly: 1. Sajan Prakash (Ind) 1:58.08, 2. Tiaa Faang Der (Joh) 2:03.68, 3. Low Zheng Yong (Mel) 2:04.83.
1500m freestyle: 1. Welson Sim (Swk) 16:18.35, 2. Wong Jun Bin (FT) 16:19.93, 3. Wong Venn Chieh (Sab) 16:39.49.
● WOMEN
50m breaststroke: 1. Rainbow Ip (Hkg) 33.41, 2. Alicia Soosai Li Ann (Joh) 34.03, 3. Angelina Chan (Sel) 34.61. 50m freestyle: 1. Stephanie Au (Hkg) 25.75, 2. Elynn Tan (Pen) 26.41, 3. Wong Shi Qi (Pah) 27.30. 200m butterfly: 1. Chan Kin Lok (Hkg) 2:17.57, 2. Angela Chieng Chui Fei (Swk) 2:23.94, 3. Ong Yong Qi (Joh) 2:24.00.
800m freestyle: 1. Lam Hoi Kiu (Hkg) 9:09.36, 2. Angela Chieng Chui Fei (Swk) 9:20.26, 3. Goh Chia Tong (Mel) 9:21.30.