WONG Zin comes from a family of taekwondo exponents, but she is no rough and tough fighter.
Instead, she loves makeup and fashion.
“I enjoy dressing up, fashion, and going out with my sister,” she said.
No wonder then that, unlike others in her family, she prefers the non-combat side of the sport. And she is good at it, too.
The 18-year-old athlete from Perlis delivered a stellar performance in the girl’s individual poomsae event to clinch gold at the Sarawak Malaysia Games (Sukma).
Full of spirit: Perlis’ Wong Zin going through her routine during the poomsae women’s individual event. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/TheStar
“I chose to take up taekwondo because of my dad. He loves it, and my whole family is involved in taekwondo as well. But they all spar in combat aspect of the sport. I’m the only one that does not because I am more flexible and smaller,” she said.
Zin said she joined the sport five years ago when she was 13 and worked her way up to join the national team last July. But it wasn’t a smooth journey for her as the training routines were tough for the 153cm athlete.
“When I joined the national team, I felt that I could not take it. It was intense. Now that I am used to it, I feel happy and I have improved. Even though it was hard, I never thought about quitting because this is my dream.”
Her training schedule has even forced her to put her hobbies to one side, but she has no regrets.
“I’ve been so busy with training that I sometimes forget to use the beauty products that I have bought,” she laughed.
She added that her background in yoga and swimming also contributed to her performance in taekwondo, and she would have returned to the water if her taekwondo journey had not gone as planned.
“I thought about gymnastics as well, but I can’t jump very high. I used to love swimming but now I enjoy taekwondo more,” she said.
Besides the individual event, Zin also won the gold medal in the mixed pair event with teammate Yeap Zhi Bin with a score of 8.34, while hosts Sarawak took silver and Penang settled for bronze.
Zin will next take part in the University Games in Perlis from Sept 6-14, before heading Down Under for the Australian Open from Sept 18-22.
Meanwhile, Sarawak’s Randy Owen Augustine Linggi took gold in the boy’s category, edging Perlis’ Zhi Bin who finished second while Johor’s Woo Jun Yi was third. Poomsae
RESULTS
Men’s individual: 1. Randy Owen Augustine Linggi (Swk) 7.80, 2. Yeap Zhi Bin (Per) 7.71, 3. Woo Jun Yi (Joh) 7.71
Women’s individual: 1 Wong Zin (Per) 8.24, 2. Yow Mei Yee (Pen) 7.93, 3. Willemien Lai Lini (Swk) 7.80.
