Malaysian wushu exponents win four gold medals at Taolu World Cup

KUALA LUMPUR: Wushu exponents Wong Weng Son and Phoon Eyin recovered from the Asian Games setback in Indonesia to claim two golds each for Malaysia at the Taolu World Cup in Yangon, Myanmar.

Weng Son landed his second gold in the prestigious meet with a flawless performance in the men's qiangshu (spear) on Sunday (Nov 18).

The 26-year-old, who is also the reigning world champion for qiangshu, was the first to perform and the remaining competitors failed to beat his score of 9.67 points.

Tomoyo Okawa of Japan (9.65) got the silver while the bronze went to Indonesian Muhd Daffa Golden Boy (9.51).

Yeap Wai Kin, the second Malaysian exponent in action, claimed fourth place (9.29).

Weng Son scored 9.68 points to successfully defend his men's jianshu (sword) title won in the inaugural edition in Fuzhou, China in 2016.

Okawa settled for silver with 9.66 while Lee Ha-sung of South Korea got the bronze with 9.63.

Wai Kin, the second Malaysian exponent in the competition, was penalised for an error and ended sixth with 8.80.

Not to be outdone, Phoon Eyin put up a similar show to become the first Malaysian woman gold medallist at the Taolu World Cup after scoring 9.54 points in the jianshu event.

Yi Li of Macau won silver with 9.48 while Spain's Paloma Panos got the bronze with 9.34.

Phoon Eyin went on to claim a second gold in the qiangshu competition with 9.65 points, ahead of Myanmar's Sandi Oo (9.41) and Japan's Keiko Yamaguchi (9.32).

Youngster Tan Cheong Min earlier delivered the first medal for Malaysia – a silver – in the women's nanquan (barehands) event.

The 20-year-old from Malacca scored 9.67 points to finish behind China’s Chen Huiying (9.73).

Cheong Min also bagged a bronze (9.43) in the nandao (broadsword) event. 

Malaysia's chances to win gold at the Asian Games disappeared after the men's jianshu and qiangshu (spear) events were not included in Indonesia in August.

The Malaysian wushu team eventually returned home without a medal from the Asian Games campaign in August.

Participation at the Taolu World Cup is only for the top eight finishers from last year’s world meet in Kazan, Russia.