WITH just a month before the start of the Games, Clement Ting’s worst fear came true, he had Covid-19. But he refused to throw in the towel. He gritted his teeth, pulled up his socks and managed to board the plane for his maiden Games.
And his initial sorrow turned to joy when the 24-year-old claimed the changquan gold medal at the Cau Giay Gymnasium.
Clement triumphed with 9.70 points to become the first Malaysian to win the event in almost 20 years at the biennial Games.
Interestingly, the last winner, Ang Eng Chong, won the gold when Hanoi hosted the Games for the first time in 2003.
Singapore’s Jowen Lim chalked up the same score but took second place as he had a slightly lower difficulty routine.
The favourite, Indonesia’s Seraf Naro Siregar, settled for the bronze with 9.69 points after he edged Malaysia’s Yeap Wai Kin (9.68).
The Malaysians started the competition without any expectations considering the subjective nature of the sport and even Clement didn’t see it coming.
“The Indonesian (Seraf) was the top pick but I think he made a mistake. Honestly, I didn’t expect to win any medal as this was my first Games.
“For me, being able to keep my place in the squad and arrive here is already a big achievement as I tested positive for Covid-19 last month.
“I had to stop training for 10 days. There were a lot of things going through my mind then.
“Whether I could recover mentally and physically in time. I was really worried that I could not make it.
“But then I thought, it would be a big waste after preparing for the last three years if I didn’t push myself.
“And now I’m glad that all my sacrifices had paid off handsomely. I’m really happy because I managed to perform like what I did in training,” said Clement, who joined the national squad in 2018.
Clement will be looking for more honours when he competes in daoshu and gunshu combined events today.
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