KUALA LUMPUR: Former Olympic fencer Yu Peng Kean is a man on a mission.
The 31-year-old sabre specialist, who is now a coach, wants to restore the nation's glory in the discipline, deemed the weakest department of the national fencing team.
Their counterparts - epee and foil - which feature the likes of Joshua Koh and Hans Yoong, have delivered a combined seven medals - three silver and four bronze from the last two Sea Games.
But the same can't be said for the sabre fencers, whose podium drought dated back to eight years ago when Peng Kean and his teammates claimed two bronzes at the Singapore Games.
Remarkably, the sabre event was the one that gave Malaysia gold in fencing in the 2011 Palembang Games through the trio of Peng Kean, Liong Ming Chang and Radhi Hashim.
A year later, Peng Kean etched his name in Malaysian sporting history as only the second fencer to qualify for the Olympics in London - 48 years after the late Ronnie Ignatius Theseira competed in Tokyo in 1964.
The sabre team were so severely lacking in talent that Peng Kean had to come out of retirement in Hanoi last year, but being an athlete past his prime, he failed to prevent his side from returning empty-handed.
However, Peng Kean won't give up just yet as he vowed to groom Malaysia's next generation of sabre fencers through his very own Valor Fencing Academy, founded in 2020.
Three of Peng Kean's teenage disciples - Teh Zi Hao, Keane Leong and Resha Shaveena Sabaratnam - will be making their Sea Games debuts in Phnom Penh next month.
Zi Hao and Keane will be joined in the men's sabre squad by Terry Lee Dong Wei and Lee Tony while Resha is the sole flagbearer in women's sabre individual.
"Zi Hao, Keane and Resha have been my students for a long time, and I'm happy that they have earned the right to represent Malaysia at the Sea Games for the first time," said Peng Kean, who retired after the Kuala Lumpur Games in 2017.
"These three fencers have been training with me from a young age, and I'm proud to see them following in my footsteps.
"It can be an unnerving experience to go for your first Sea Games, especially if you are going up against more experienced fencers in your grouping.
"They are going for exposure at these Sea Games. Actually, I'm targeting them to fight for medals at the 2027 Sea Games as Malaysia will be the hosts."