KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 17 (Bernama) -- Taekwondo exponent Ryan Chong is targeting a gold medal in the three-day Third Asian Junior Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan which begins on Friday.
Ryan won a silver in the featherweight category in Vietnam two years ago.
"I am prepared to take on the challenge. My aim is to go higher than silver, and certainly not below what I achieved two years ago.
"In the Genting Open two weeks ago, I bagged the gold in the same category and in the Selangor Open last month I got a bronze...but I was competing in the senior category and lost to a national exponent," the 17-year-old told Bernama Wednesday.
The slim Ryan said his performance at the Asian meet would chart a new chapter in his career as it would be his last outing in the junior meet.
His coach K.M. Rajendran said Ryan has matured and been given the right exposure to excel at the top level.
"If things go smoothly and there is no injury, I believe he can strike gold," he said at the Jalur Gemilang handing over ceremony at the Bukit Jalil Sports School.
He said Malaysia were aiming for at least three medals from the Asian championships.
"In 2001 in Taiwan, we won three bronze medals and in 2003 in Vietnam we took home one silver and one bronze. I hope they can deliver at least three medals this time around.
"Everyone is in high spirits. Hopefully we get a favourable draw in the early rounds and avoid opponents from Iran, Taiwan and South Korea, as they are the strong countries in taekwondo," said Rajendran.
The 14 exponents comprising seven boys and seven girls will leave for Kazakhstan, Wednesday.
NATIONAL SQUAD:
Boys -- B. Sathiyswaran (finweight), Muhammad Haziq Hazwan (flyweight), Ryan Chong (featherweight), Abdul Majid Mohamad (welterweight), Jeffrey Kiang (light middleweight), N. Nicholas (middleweight), T. Janagaraj (light heavyweight). Girls -- Teng Meng Poh (finweight), Nurul Asfahlina Mohamed Johari (flyweight), Wan Nur Latifah Wan Mohamad Yussof (bantamweight), Koh Jen Li (featherweight), Erni Syazwani Azman (lightweight), Nurul Afiqah Harun (welterweight), Norazlinda Mohamed Johari (light middleweight).
-- BERNAMA
Source from http://bernama.com
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