PETALING JAYA: Powerlifter Jong Yee Khie (pic) will not be able to aim for a hattrick of Commonwealth Games medals after he had to give the upcoming Birmingham edition a miss due to injuries.
Yee Khie was injured while he was training for the Games and the National Sports Council (NSC) have confirmed that he is not in a position to recover in time.
The Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist was left with no choice but to withdraw from the multi-sport Games, which takes place every four years.
Sarawak-born Yee Khie won a bronze medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (2014) in the men’s above 72kg category.
He improved to a silver medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games (2018), also in the men’s heavyweight category.
In last year’s World Para Powerlifting World Cup in Dubai, Yee Khie bagged a silver medal in the men’s 107kg category.
Tokyo Paralympics champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin will thus be the only Malaysian powerlifter in the Commonwealth Games, with a remaining total of 105 athletes in the contingent.
National men’s singles shuttler Lee Zii Jia pulled out due to heavy commitments while women’s squash player S. Sivasangari also had to skip due to head and spine injuries due to a car crash.
