TAN Cheong Min finally put to rest the memories of a mistake in last year’s Indonesia Asian Games by winning the women’s nanquan silver at the Wushu World Championships in Shanghai, China yesterday.
The 21-year-old suffered the agony of slipping when it mattered at the Asian Games, which resulted in her finishing fourth in the nanquan-nandao combined event.
However, Cheong Min was almost flawless yesterday as she got Malaysia’s campaign at the world meet off to a flying start.
The Melaka-born, who was the first of 16 exponents to take the mat, earned 9.543 points, finishing behind China’s gold medallist Tang Lu (9.623) while Hong Kong’s He Jianxin (9.520) took third.
“I’m really happy with the result as this is my first silver medal in an individual event (at the world meet). It is an improvement from the bronze (nangun) two years ago,” said Cheong Min.
“For me, it was a great experience to be the first contestant in the first event of the world meet as well.
“The Malaysian Wushu Federation (MWF) and my coach also did not give me any pressure, so I just told myself to perform well out there.
“I am really happy to complete my routine without making any mistakes.”
Cheong Min, who also won gold in duilian in the 2017 world meet with Phoon Eyin and Loh Ying Ting, is scheduled for nandao tomorrow and nangun on Wednesday.
Eyin came up massively short in the women’s jianshu event, posting only 9.370 to finish eighth. Macau’s Li Yi (9.620) won gold, followed by Vietnam’s Duong Thuy Vi (9.563) and South Korea’s Seo Hee-ju (9.560).
In the men’s daoshu event, newcomer Clement Ting just missed out on the podium after scoring 9.626 to finish fourth. China’s Wu Zhaohua (9.740) took the top spot, followed by Russia’s Ilias Khusnutdinov (9.643) and Singapore’s Jowen Lim (9.633).