Jet Li inspires Yeap for wushu gold

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese film star and wushu exponent Jet Li inspired Malaysian Yeap Wai Kin to bag his first SEA Games gold medal, winning the men's jianshu (sword), today.
Being a fan of the Shaolin Temple star since young, the 24-year-old Penangite upset his compatriot and world cup winner at Wong Weng Son for the gold at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) here, today.
"Before competitions I always watch his videos … He inspired me a lot to become a wushu athlete," 2011 Junior World Championship double gold winner told reporters before the prize giving ceremony here, today.
"My dream is to become a coach and develop wushu in Malaysia because wushu is still not popular in this country. So I hope our success can inspire a lot of people to get into wushu," he said.
Yeap claimed gold in the double-edged sword event after accumulating 9.67 points, while Wong collected 9.65 points. Singapore's Fun Jin Jie took the bronze with 9.48 points.
The 2013 World Championship double silver medallist, will next compete in the Qiang Shu (spear), tomorrow in his attempt for the double gold with home ground advantage.
Meanwhile, Wong is happy that his friend Yeap claimed the gold as well as the 1-2 finish for Malaysia, and hopes to continue his world class forms.
"Today, my friends and I tried our level best so that the gold medal was not won by any other country. It is immaterial which person won the gold, what is important is that the gold belongs to Malaysia," he said. — Bernama