June Wei grabs Malaysia's first Olympic gold ... sort of

June Wei clinched the mixed doubles title with Hong Kong

PETALING JAYA: Rising badminton star Cheam June Wei made history when he became the first-ever Malaysian gold medallist at the second Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Nanjing. 

June Wei clinched the mixed doubles title with Hong Kong’s Ng Tsz Yau. They defeated Kanta Tsuneyama (Japan)-Lee Chia-hsin (Taiwan) 21-14 23-21 in the 30-minute final. 

The gold however, will not be credited into Malaysia’s medal tally as they are competing under the mixed-NOCs (National Olympic Committees) flag. 

The mixed-NOCs was introduced in the inaugural games in Singapore in 2010, whereby the athletes from different nations would compete in the same team, often representing their continent. 

In archery, Malaysia’s sole representative, Muhamad Zarif Syahiir Zolkepeli kicked off his campaign in the recurve individual event by shooting 654 points to be placed 17th out of 32 competitors in the ranking round. 

Zarif has been drawn against 17th seed Boris Balaz of Slovakia in the opening round of the knockout stage. Top seed Lee Woo-seok of South Korea stands in his path in the next round. 

Woo-Seok topped the round by rewriting a new men’s cadet world record in the 60m range. He shot 704 to erase the previous record set by Holland’s Sjef Van Den Berg in 2012. 

Meanwhile, swimmer Angela Chieng concluded her campaign in 21st spot from 33 swimmers after posting 4:26.11 in the 400m freestyle heats.