KUALA LUMPUR: Celine Lee Xin Yi will be looking to add to her medal collection at the Asian Junior Karate Championships this weekend.
Celine won two gold medals at the Perlis Sukma Games in the individual and team kata in May, and the 20-year old hopes to deliver again in what will be her last competition of her junior career at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras.
However at the Asian Junior Championships, she will only be competing in the individual kata as the team kata category will only be for the juniors.
“For the past two weeks I have been putting in two and a half extra hours into my training sessions everyday to be better prepare myself.
“Drawing nearer to the tournament, I am spending most of of the time performing my sets,” said Celine.
“I am wishing for a medal this weekend, but all I can say is that I will give my best,” said the modest Penangite.
At the South-East Asian karate Championships (SEAKF) in Can Tho, Vietnam in April, Celine also managed a double exploit, scoring two bronze medals in the individual and team kata events.
The competition this weekend will prove to be much stiffer than SEAKF, going up against the best in Asia with the likes of Japan and Iran.
When her junior days are over she hopes to move on to the elite team but Lim Lee Lee, her coach since she was seven years-old and former Asian women’s kata champion says that it will be tough.
“She shows good progress but if she is to break into the elite, she will have to work very hard,” said Lee Lee.
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