Bittersweet outing
Hup Wei disappointed despite bagging gold in Bangkok
PETALING JAYA: Lee Hup Wei is hardly jumping for joy despite bagging the high jump gold medal in the Thailand Open Track and Field Championships.
Hup Wei barely broke a sweat with his winning leap of 2.20m at the Suphachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok yesterday.
His closest opponents – Cao Vo Ngoc Long of Vietnam, Huang Yan Ping of Taiwan and Nguyen Thanh Nhan of Vietnam – finished well behind him with identical jumps of 2.11m.
The Selangor lad had wanted to clear 2.30m – the qualifying mark for the World Championships (Doha, Sept 28-Oct 6).
Hup Wei, who has represented Malaysia for 14 years, will next compete in the Asian Grand Prix in Chongqing, China, from June 4-7 where he hopes to meet his target to earn a ticket to the world meet.
“It’s good to win the gold medal but I’m disappointed I did not hit the 2.30m mark.
“I wanted to qualify for the World Championship from this meet but now I will have to try at other championships to qualify,” said the 32-year-old.
“My season best is 2.27m which I did at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Bukit Jalil in March ... so I was expecting to reach 2.30m mark in Bangkok.”
“I couldn’t push myself harder here because the opponents here were not challenging me. They seem to be just looking at doing their personal best.”
“I’ve featured in the 2008 Beijing Olympics but I have yet to compete in the world meet so I will push myself in Chongqing.”
Malaysia also won three bronze medals in yesterday’s final day of the meet.
Nuranati Shafika bagged a bronze in the girls’ Under-18 long jump with a leap of 4.41m while Muhamad Haizad Mohd Rizzua came out third in the men’s 110m hurdles clocking 14.42.
National para athlete Mohd Ziyad Zolkefli won the shot putt bronze with a 16.17m throw.