Homester’s high: Sarawak’s Chin Ken Haw rejoicing after his win in the boys’ individual freestyle poomsae event. — KAMARUL ARIFFIN/The Star
FROM being unable to walk last week to winning two gold medals at the Sarawak Sukma, taekwondo exponent Chin Ken Haw showed that he can push through anything.
The 20-year-old, who fractured his foot last week, won gold in the boys’ individual freestyle poomsae event, before taking home another gold medal in the mixed freestyle open team poomsae with teammates Fedealis Kom Twin and Randy Owen Augustine Linggi.
Ken Haw secured both gold medals within two hours, but he was performing through the pain.
“Given the circumstances, I did my best and I’m really happy with how I performed.
“I’m currently recovering a fractured left foot, and I could not even walk last week.
“I’m in pain but I’m fighting through it,” said Ken Haw, who made his first and only Sukma appearance.
Ken Haw scored 7.23 in the individual event, winning by a large margin ahead of Johor’s Khoo Le Jie (6.77) in second and Sabah’s Ned Augusti Nelson (6.10) in third.
While most would have pulled out from competing due to an injury of that severity, the Kuching-born athlete was determined to stay on track and deliver in front of his home fans.
“There was a possibility that I could pull out of the Sukma, but in my mind I had already decided that I wanted to compete.
“Because this is my first and last Sukma, I wanted to be a part of it, especially given the fact that I will be representing Sarawak in Kuching.
“The atmosphere here is great, having the home crowd behind you feels incredible. You can feel the support,” said Ken Haw, who has been in the Podium Programme for the past four years.
Although he won silver at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia and bronze at the Asian Championships in May, Ken Haw said the competition in Sukma was still tough.
“Even though I’m a Podium Programme athlete, the challenge here was not easy.
There is a lot of pressure for me to perform well but I think I did good enough,” he said.
The victory was even sweeter for Ken Haw as his mother and grandparents were in the stands to witness his stellar performance.
Ken Haw’s next outing will be at the World Championships in Hong Kong in November, but his priority will be to ensure that he fully recovers from his injury.
