From last to first

Proud moment: Clement Ting posing with the trophy after winning the men’s gunshu event.

PETALING JAYA: Wushu exponent Clement Ting was down in the dumps after finishing last in men’s daoshu at the Wushu Taolu Asia Cup on Saturday.

But a day later, armed with determination and resilience, the 27-year-old Clement made a remarkable turnaround to emerge as Malaysia’s solitary gold medal winner by topping the men’s gunshu (stick) event in Jilin, China, yesterday.

The Sarawakian impressed with his artistic performance to score 9.676 points for the No. 1 spot as teammate Danish Aizad Firdaus Chua claimed the silver with 9.573 points.

It was the only gold medal for Malaysia in the elite tournament, where participation is limited to the top eight finishers from the Asian Championships in Macau last year.

Clement had won bronze in the gunshu event at the Asian meet to qualify for the Asia Cup but this time, he showed who was the boss.

The Hanoi SEA Games gold medallist in the men’s changquan three years ago, described his win as the highest achievement in his wushu career so far.

Clement also had won a bronze in the same event at the World Championships in Texas two years ago.

His latest performance will put him in a good frame of mind as he gets ready for the world meet in Brasilia, Brazil, in September and also the Thailand SEA Games in Haytai, Thailand, in December.

Clement certainly came to Malaysia’s rescue as Asian Games silver medallist Tan Cheong Min found the going tough in her pet event yesterday.

Cheong Min finished fourth in the women’s nandao (broadsword) event after scoring 9.463 points before bouncing back strongly to take silver in the nanguan event (9.563).

Malaysian exponents also claimed five silver and three bronze medals.

The silver medals came from Pang Pui Yee (women’s qiangshu), Si Shin Peng (men’s qiangshu), Bryan Ti Kai Jie (men’s nanquan), Lee Jia Rong (women’s daoshu) and taijiquan pair (Sydney Chin-Wong Zi Hong).

The bronze medals were contributed by Pui Yee (women’s jianshu), Shin Peng (men’s jianshu) and Danish-Shin Peng-Bryan (men’s duilian).