Cheong Min's tears of joy clears path for Malaysian contingents medal hunt

HANGZHOU - Tears of joy from national wushu queen Tan Cheong Min provided a silver lining to the Malaysian camp on the third day of competitions in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and lifted the gloom surrounding the Malaysian contingent in the land of the Great Wall.

After two dry days, the Malaysian contingent won two silver and four bronze medals on the third day of competition in Hangzhou.

Cheong Min whose career had nose-dived to an all time low five years ago, especially after losing out on a medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, made amends by contributing a silver medal from the women’s nanquan and nandao event to wipe off the disappointment in Jakarta.

There was another silver medal at the Arena of Valor where the E-sport team created their own history by making it to the final in their maiden appearance where they lost 0-2 to host China.

E-sports is being contested in the Asian Games for the first time and with the silver medal in the bag, the e-sport team will be dreaming of competing in the Olympics one day.

Earlier in the day, the sailing team contributed the country’s first medal of any colour, when sailor Asnawi Iqbal Adam finished in the bronze medal position in the men’s ILCA 4 at the Ningbo Xiangshan Sailing Centre while Tengku Nurani Ezaty Tengku Khairudeen added another bronze from the women’s Windsurfing RSX.

However, the medal count for the two bronze medals will only reflect in the medal tally after the prize presentation tomorrow.

The third bronze medal of the day came from the women’s track cycling trio, Nurul Aliana Syafika Azizan, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri and Anis Amira Rosidi from the women’s Team Sprint which was also the country’s first since women’s track cycling was included in the Asian Games programme during the 2014 Incheon Asian Games in South Korea.

The fourth bronze came from the newly minted track cycling trio of Umar Hasbullah, Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom and Muhammad Fadhil Mohd Zonis, who had entered the competition without the country’s ace cyclist Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang who was part of the team that won a silver from the men’s Team Sprint at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

The Malaysian camp’s wait for a golden moment in Hangzhou could come to an end tomorrow through Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif who will see action in the 12th and final race of the women’s ICLA 6 competition tomorrow.

The 25-year-old sailor who managed only a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, is currently leading the pack by 12 points and looks set to sail home for the gold tomorrow since a top five finish in the final race would be enough to win the gold.

Apart from Nur Shazrin, medals hopes remain high in equestrian where Mohd Qabil Ambak Mahamad Fathil will be trying to defend the silver medal he had won in dressage while wushu, shooting, track cycling, swimming and basketball continue to offer medal hopes. - BERNAMA