Double celebration
StarSport wishes all its Chinese readers a very Happy Chinese New Year
national pistol shooter Johnathan Wong Guanjie (right) “monkeying” around with family members as they usher in the year of the Monkey at his home in Malacca. Johnathan, who has already qualified for rio de Janeiro olympics in August, said: “I was born in the year of Monkey (in 1992) and this is also the year of the Monkey ... this is going to be the best Chinese new year for me.”
KUALA LUMPUR: There is definitely something special about the Year of the Monkey for national pistol shooter Johnathan Wong Guanjie.
Born 24 years ago – also in the Year of the Monkey – Johnathan is ready to celebrate this year’s Chinese New Year with an extra zest.
Well, why shouldn’t he? He has, after all, qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August!
The aerospace engineering student of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) qualified for Rio after winning gold in the men’s 10m air pistol event at the Asian Olympic Qualifying Shooting Championships in New Delhi on Feb 1.
There’s more good news. He will be able to compete in the 50m pistol event in Rio as well.
No wonder Johnathan can’t seem to stop smiling.
“Qualifying for the Olympics is the biggest present for me this Chinese New Year,” said Johnathan.
“I’m expecting a lot of ang pows and blessings from my parents and relatives in Malacca on Monday.
“I was born in the Year of Monkey (in 1992) and this is also the Year of the Monkey ... this is going to be best Chinese New Year for me.
“My parents (Wong Chee Yong) and (Monica Liou) and my relatives are proud of me ... I’m the first among my relatives to feature in Olympics.
“All my relatives will be in Malacca for the Chinese New Year celebrations ... they’ll surely give me ang pows and also motivate me to give my best in the Rio Olympics,” added a hopeful Johnathan, who is third among four siblings.
As it is, he has been inundated with congratulatory calls ever since he made the cut for the Olympics.
“I’ve been receiving a lot of phone calls congratulating me for my achievements. It feels nice. I hope my world ranking will improve after I won the gold in New Delhi,” said world No. 128 Johnathan.
The 24-year-old shooter, who is coached by Hashim Desa, has shown progress in competitions in the last three months.
He broke the South-East Asia (SEASA) Championships record with a score of 201.50 to erase the previous mark of 198.2 on the way to winning the 10m air pistol gold in Jakarta last November. Then came the gold in New Delhi last week. Johnathan, who took up shooting nine years ago, will enjoy his Chinese New Year break before resuming training on Feb 15 at the Subang Shooting Range.
“I will be in full-time training and competitions for the next six months,” said Johnathan, who has a personal best of 585 points in the qualifying.
“I don’t want to go the Olympics to just make up the numbers ... I want to defy the odds by finishing among top eight and qualify for the final. “It’s tough, but not impossible.” But that can wait. For now, it’s time to collect ang pows and tuck in all those delicious food.