Wei Yan mulling over return to fight for poomsae gold

KUALA LUMPUR: Poomsae exponent Chew Wei Yan (pic) is in two minds about whether to make a comeback from retirement or bid farewell to taekwondo for good.

The Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA) want his services for the Philippines SEA Games in December as he is still the country’s top male poomsae exponent although he had quit the sport last month.

National coach Jin Jun-boem of South Korea has continued to persuade him to feature in one last SEA Games and the 27-year-old Wei Yan said he was mulling over it.

“I understand that there is no replacement for me yet but I’ve been busy with my own life as I’ve just opened a gymnasium in Klang with a few friends this week,” said Wei Yan, who holds a degree in electrical engineering.

“I won’t have time to train as I run my business seven days a week from 7am until 11pm.

“It’s hard to leave my business and attend training as I’ve to think of my bread and butter. I’m not sure whether I can give my best in the SEA Games even if I make a comeback.

“I’ve suffered ankle and shoulder injuries in the past and it still haunts me,” said Wei Yan, who represented Malaysia in competitions from 2014 to 2018.

He won a team bronze at the 2015 Singapore SEA Games and took the individual gold medal and the team bronze medla at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.

Wei Yan said that despite his busy schedule, he would take part in the National Taekwondo Championships at the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) Hall from Feb 23-24 to gauge his standard.

“If I win the gold then maybe I’ll make a comeback. Otherwise, I’ll stick with my decision to quit,” said Wei Yan, who won bronze in the men’s Under-30 individual event in the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Taiwan last November.