Sara prepared to go the distance despite few setbacks
KUALA LUMPUR: Any athlete would have given up hope after a string of bad luck but not taekwondo exponent Sara Yap Khim Wen.
The 24-year-old is determined to soldier on in her quest to shine at the Indonesia Asian Games in August – although her pet event is dropped from the Asiad and she is currently nursing an injury.
The final year psychology student at HELP University will not get the chance to feature in the mixed pair poomsae (non-sparring) as it has been scrapped from the Asian Games programme.
Poomsae, which is making its debut at the Asian Games, will only feature the individual and team events for men and women.
The Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medallist Khim Wen has been practising the art of poomsae for the last 10 years.
Khim Wen partnered Yong Jin Kun to win the silver behind South Korea in mixed poomsae at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last month. The pair won the gold medal at the US Open in Nevada in February.
“The mixed event was still in the Asian Games programme at that time (when she won the medals recently),” said the lass from Kuala Lumpur.
“Jin Kun and I have partnered together for many years and achieved a lot, so I was disappointed when I heard the organisers dropped the event recently.”
To add to Khim Wen’s misery, her preparation hit a rocky patch when an old ankle injury flared up recently.
Khim Wen, who will only compete in the women’s individual event in Indonesia, is restricted to light training as she bids to recover fully before the Asian Games.
“I can’t do leg training at the moment as I am trying not to stretch my right ankle,” she said.
“The recovery process is much better than I thought and hopefully, I will be good by then.
“I’m not expecting too much at the Asian Games but I will surely give my best,” she added.
Meanwhile, KL SEA Games gold medallist Chew Wei Yan will be the representative in the men’s individual event.