KUALA LUMPUR: National wushu exponent Wong Weng Son is hoping his event (men's jianshu) will be included in next year's Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia.
On Sunday, the 25-year-old bagged his maiden World Championships gold medal in Kazan, Russia, when he posted 9.64 points to finish ahead of South Korea's Lee Ha Sung (9.60) and teammate Yeap Wai Kin (9.53).
"First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in helping the national team achieve our target at the World Championships – especially the NSC (National Sports Council), the NSI (National Sports Institute) and the Wushu Federation of Malaysia.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting to win gold, as the field included exponents from stronger nations such as China and South Korea.
"My coach (Lim Yew Fai), however, played a vital role, as he kept encouraging me. He was also the one who advised me to keep a cool head and stay calm.
"The most important thing is that we managed to retain our status as one of the top three in the world.
"I now hope that my event will be included in the Asian Games next year," said Weng Son upon arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here on Thursday.
Weng Son, who settled for the silver at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games (KL2017) in August, also won silver in the men's qiangshu event.
Meanwhile, the trio of Phoon Eyin, Loh Ying Ting and Tan Cheong Min was over the moon when they etched their names in the history books by becoming Malaysia's first ever World Championships gold medallists in the women's duel event.
"Words can't describe how happy we are to win the women's duel gold. We just trained really hard before the competition and gave our best," said Eyin.
Malaysia ended their campaign in Kazan with three more silver medals and three bronzes. The initial target set by the federation was one gold medal.
Medal winners:
Gold
Wong Weng Son (men's jiangshu)
Phoon Eyin, Loh Ying Ting and Tan Cheong Min (women's duel)
Silver
Weng Son (men's qiangshu), Ho Mun Hua (men's nangun), Cheong Min (women's nandao)
Bronze
Cheong Min (women's nangun), Yeap Wai Kin (men's jianshu), Wai Kin (men's qiangshu)