PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s title defence in the men’s taijiqian and taijiquan combined event hangs in the balance after defending champion Loh Jack Chang failed to live up to expectations on the opening day of the wushu SEA Games competition in Myanmar.
One mistake – an unstable landing – cost the 26-year-old dearly and he ended up with 9.60 points to sit in sixth place.
Debutant Loh Choon How is 0.03 points behind at seventh place.
The winner will only be decided on Tuesday as the exponents will perform the taijijian routine before the scores are accumulated to determine the final standings.
The Malaysian exponents face an uphill task to close the gap on the top three exponents – Philippines’ Daniel Parantec (9.70), Myanmar’s Nyein Chan Ko Ko (9.67) and Indonesia’s Marthen Mardan Tangdilallo (9.66).
Malaysia have not lost the men’s taijiquan and taijijian title since 2009 when Jack won before Lee Yang continued the domination in Palembang two years ago.
However, Lee Yang is not defending his title as he is still plagued by a knee injury sustained at the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur last month. He subsequently failed the final evaluation.
Head coach Yoong Thong Foong admitted that it would be difficult for Malaysia to win the gold in men’s taijijian and taijiquan again.
“A mistake ruined it all, otherwise Jack should be among the top. The 0.10 points is too big a gap to catch now.
“We were expecting him to be on top today but, with this result, our chances look slim,” he lamented.
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