Yu Tian poles apart from the rest

KUALA LUMPUR: Pole vaulter Chuan Yu Tian (pic) knows she will face a daunting task at the Philippines SEA Games in November.

Yu Tian, who bagged a silver at the Kuala Lumpur Games in 2017 with a height of 3.80m, will be up against three strong contenders.

Two of them are from the host country – United States-based Natalie Uy and Alayana Nicolas, who have a personal best of 4.25m and 4.06m respectively.

The third hurdle is defending champion Chayanisa Chomchuendee of Thailand, with 4.10m.

The 26-year-old Yu Tian, whose best is 3.90m, said she has not thrown in the towel yet.

“Although I am ranked fourth in the region, anything is possible in pole vault,” said Yu Tian, who cleared 3.70m to finish 13th at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia last year.

“At the recent World Championships, even the favourites like the reigning Olympic champion (Brazil’s Thiago Braz) could only finished fifth.

“So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I still have a fighting chance to finish on the podium,” said Yu Tian, who has a degree in petroleum chemistry from Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Yu Tian, who is currently pursuing her Masters in sports exercise at Universiti Malaya, added that there is no pressure on her to win a medal.

“The pressure will be on the Filipinos who have to live up to their favourite’s tag in front of their own fans.

“The target in my second Games appearance is to improve on my personal best and try to get on the podium.”

Yu Tian, who has been training under national coach Mohd Manshahar Abdul Jalil since she was 18, will be hoping to scale new heights at the Perak All Comers Championships in Kerian, Perak, this weekend.