KUALA LUMPUR: National jiu jitsu athlete, Cassandra J Poyong, will undergo a five-week intensive training in Brazil to gain as much experience as possible for her mission to achieve success in the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, which will take place from Sept 12 to Oct 8.
The 34-year-old athlete from Sabah is expected to depart for Rio de Janeiro in the middle of this month to train with a Brazilian jiu jitsu athlete, in order to strengthen her techniques and tactics in combat and improve her fitness level.
"He has won many competitions there, and recently, he secured second place in a high-profile championship, so I am excited to train with him. I can't wait to see how Brazilian athletes train and understand why they are so passionate about jiu jitsu. Hopefully, I can apply that knowledge in competitions and share it with fellow Malaysian athletes," she said during the national jujitsu squad training session held here today.
Earlier, the chef de mission (CDM) for the country at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games, Datuk Chong Kim Fatt, visited the training session to observe the athletes' preparations.
Cassandra garnered attention when she won a gold medal in the under 55kg category at the Jujitsu Masters World Championship 2019 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), before bagging a silver medal in the same category at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
Last January, she won a silver medal in the under 59kg category at the European IBJJF Jiu Jitsu Championship in Paris, and a month later, she took home a bronze in the under 57kg category at the Asian Championship in Bangkok.
The upcoming Games in Hangzhou will be her debut appearance in the Asian Games, and she will compete in the under 57kg category. She refuses to put pressure on herself to bring home a medal but remains optimistic about delivering a good performance.
"I've been through many competitions and if you think too much and take it too seriously, I don't think you can do well. So I just want to be calm and do what I'm doing now, step in as an athlete, just me and the mat and give my best," she said.
Cassandra mentioned that athletes from the Philippines, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan are formidable opponents in her category, and she expects tough competition from them.
Meanwhile, national jiu jitsu coach Bruno Barbosa said that Cassandra, who has been under his guidance for eight years, has the potential to create surprises in Hangzhou, just like she did in the 2019 SEA Games.
"No one knew that Malaysia had jiu jitsu in the SEA Games back then when she secured second place. Cassandra continues to excel in every event she participates in, often bringing home medals, so we are definitely preparing as best as possible to bring surprises for Malaysia this time," said the 39-year-old coach from Brazil. -- BERNAMA