KUALA LUMPUR: National taekwondo exponents are expected to return with three medals from the 2024 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Hong Kong on Nov 30-Dec 4.
National exponents Jason Loo, Ken Haw Chin, Randy Owen Augustine Linggi, Nur Humaira Abdul Karim, Seah Jing Ying and Lim Jia Wei will be competing in the mixed pair under-30 as well as the men and women's team events.
At the 2022 edition in Goyang, South Korea, Jason and Nurul Hidayah delivered the silver medal in the mixed pair under-30, while Nurul Hidayah, Nur Humaira, and Jia Wei shared the bronze medal with Thailand in the women's under-30 team event.
National poomsae coach Yap Yiih Ting believes they have a good chance to finish on the podium based on their performances at the Asian Taekwondo Poomsae Championship in Vietnam, last May where they won the men's team bronze and mixed team bronze.
Malaysian exponents had also won the under-30 mixed pair gold, over-17 freestyle mixed pair silver and under-30 women's bronze at the Asian Taekwondo Open Championships in Indonesia, last month.
"We have Nur Humairah and Jia Wei coming back from injuries but they did well to finish on the podium recently. Injuries are quite common in this sport and our athletes have shown great mental strength to handle the pain and deliver results," said Yiih Ting today.
"I would say we have a chance to finish on the podium in Hong Kong but it will be tough. The new rules put host nations athletes as the fourth seed and this gives them the advantage in the draw.
"Our athletes' ranking points are lower because we only compete in a handful of competitions due to lack of funding.
"We only competed in three major competitions this year. I was told Hong Kong's athletes have participated in 14 competitions.
"Talent wise we can compete with the other nations but the lack of funding leaves our athletes lacking in exposure and we also miss out ranking points."
Yiih Ting added they also need to be ready with new talents as World Taekwondo is keen on getting freestyle poomsae included as a demonstration sport at the 2032 Brisbane Olympics
"We need to get the athletes ready, Kuching will host the Asian Cadet & Junior Taekwondo Championships, next year in July. It will be a good platform for us to prepare the next batch of talents," he added.