A target too small for taekwondo

They’ll get their kicks: Yong Jin Kun (left) and Sara Yap Khim Wen bagged a bronze medal for Malaysia in the mixed pair poomsae event at the Asian Open Taekwondo Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Inset: Jason Loo and Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim.

PETALING JAYA: The national taekwondo squad have a very modest target for the Philippines SEA Games – just one gold medal. The officials may have underestimated the exponents and it’s quite likely they will well exceed their target.

National Poomsae (non-sparring) coach Yap Yih Ting said his charges’ performance at the Asian Open Taekwondo Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last August was a good yardstick of their abilities.

Then, the squad bagged two gold medals through Sara Yap Khim Wen in the women’s Poomsae individual Under-30 category and Jason Loo-Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim in the mixed pair Under-30 category.

Sara then combined with Yong Jin Kun to deliver the bronze in the mixed pair event.

Yih Ting said the national exponents’ commitment in training and their fighting spirit after the Asian Open were good signs before the SEA Games from Nov 30-Dec 11.

“Our younger pair of Jason and Nurul created an upset in Hanoi... now you can see the level of competitiveness is improving, ” said Yih Ting.

“We previously lacked the athletes to challenge each other but now we have a bigger pool of talent and there’s a healthy competition between the youngsters and the senior athletes in training.

“The seniors have the advantage of experience while the youngsters have the physical advantage. I’m very happy that in a short time, we have developed competitive athletes but harder work is needed to continue moving forward.”

Yih Ting also said the Asian Open had allowed him to gauge the strengths of other exponents in the region.

“Our athletes did quite well in Hanoi compared to the other countries. We previously lagged behind countries like Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam but I believe we have caught up now.”

“We now need to maintain our momentum, our training now is focusing on mental strength and endurance.

“The training is hard at this stage as we are pushing the athletes. Kudos to them as they are taking the tough training in their stride, ” said Yih Ting.

“They might cry in training but we tell them that the tears of joy after winning the medals will compensate for the hardship.”