KUALA LUMPUR: Wushu exponent Chai Fong Ying wants to create history by becoming the first Malaysian to win a third world championship gold medal in Turkey in September.
The Malaccan won her first gold medal in the taijiquan event in Hanoi in 2005 and retained the title in Beijing two years later. She failed to get among the medallists in her third outing in the biennial championships in Vancouver in 2009.
There are only two major assignments for Chai Fong next year, the other being the SEA Games in Indonesia in November.
The 24-year-old Fong Ying said that retaining the Asian Games title in the women’s taijiquan-taijijian combined events in Guangzhou last month had inspired her to go for a hat-trick in the world championships.
“I have also won the Asian title twice and believe that I have all the ability to win gold medals in bigger championships. I want to be the first Malaysian three-time world championship winner,” said Chai Fong, who delivered the first gold medal for Malaysia in the 16th edition of the Asiad in Guangzhou.
She added that she would return to Fuzhou next year to continue her training to achieve her goal in the world championships.
“The intense training in China have definitely helped me to become a better wushu exponent. Although the competition gets tougher in the biennial world meet, I hope to defy all odds to win it again,” said Fong Ying, who received an RM80,000 reward from the National Sports Council (NSC) for her golden effort in the Guangzhou Games.
“All my hard work in training paid off and I happy to receive (RM80,000) for a third time in my seven-year wushu career thus far.
“Winning in the world championships twice had brought me a total of RM80,000. I received the same amount for the gold medal in the 2006 Doha Asiad.”
Fong Ying is looking at claiming gold for a third time too in a third outing in the SEA Games after 2007 (Korat) and 2009 (Vientiane).
