Stellar display: Mohd Danish Aizad Firdaus Chua won a silver in the men’s changquan event at the Asian Championships at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion.
PETALING JAYA: Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist Tan Cheong Min won another silver but it was younger wushu teammate Mohd Danish Aizad Firdaus Chua who stole the show at the Asian Championships in Macau yesterday.
The 20-year-old debutant Danish danced his way to his first medal when he bagged a silver in the men’s changquan event at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion.
It was a big turnaround for Danish after a disappointing start to his campaign in Macau just three days ago.
Danish had made a big error and had significant points deducted and it caused him to be placed last (20th spot) in the men’s daoshu event.
Yesterday, he stayed spotless to amass 9.710 points, just a few points behind Hong Kong exponent Ho Yin Ching who secured the gold with 9.713 points.
Hong Kong also took a bronze through Chen Jinsong with his 9.706 points.
It was just last month when Danish had made heads turn when he bagged two gold medals for Penang in boys’ gunshu and changquan at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) competition.
It’s rare for a non-Chinese exponent to claim a medal in the Asian meet, which is held every four years, and Danish is still trying to grasp the magnitude of his achievement.
National team coach Koo Chee Zhong was pleased to see newcomer Danish making a breakthrough in his first senior assignment.
“He was among the younger batch of exponents we recruited into the national team last year,” said Chee Zhong.
“We started to prepare Danish for the Asian championships since last year. His difficulty was the highest in the competition today, and he managed to pull it off.”
The weekend also ended up well for Cheong Min, who picked up her third medal in the Asian championships with silver in the women’s nangun (9.693).
Wong Sam In got the gold for the hosts with 9.700 points while Darya Latisheva of Uzbekistan took bronze with 9.686 points.
Cheong Min has won a medal in every event she competed in, having taken gold in nandao and silver in nanquan earlier.
Cheong Min, who is under the Podium programme, is set to collect RM80,000 under the National Sports Council incentive scheme for her three-medal feat.
Malaysia sit proudly in second place behind China with two gold, four silver and two bronze medals with one day of competition remaining.
Wushu powerhouse China are on top with 10 golds.
