KUALA LUMPUR — National wushu queen Tan Cheong Min has continued to make Malaysia proud after winning the gold medal in the women’s nanquan and nandao combination events at the 2023 World Combat Games at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia yesterday.
Cheong Min, the 2019 world champion fresh from winning a silver medal in the event at the just-concluded 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last month, topped the competition after collecting a total of 19.486 points, according to the tournament’s website at https://results.riyadh2023.com/.
The silver medal went to Uzbek athlete Darya Latisheva with 19.292 points while the bronze went to Iranian athlete Hanieh Rajabi (18.950 points).
“This time I managed to win a gold medal here, and it also serves as a platform and preparation for me towards the World Championships (in Texas, United States this November),” Cheong Min said in a video clip shared with the media.
Meanwhile, Malaysia also won bronze in the women’s jianshu and qiangshu combination events through Pang Pui Yee who collected a total of 19.392 points in the final competition.
Macau athlete Li Yi bagged the gold after winning the hearts of the judges with 19.479 points and the silver was won by Zahra Kiani from Iran who collected 19.396 points.
Luck was not on the side of Tan Zhi Yan, however, as he finished the men’s taijiquan and taijijian combination final in fifth position with a score of 19.153 points.
On Saturday, 2017 world champion Wong Weng Son missed out on a podium finish after ending the men’s changquan final in fourth place.
The 2023 World Combat Games from October 20 to 30 features a total of 16 combat sports including aikido, fencing, judo, karate, muaythai, sumo and taekwondo. — October 23, 2023