KUALA LUMPUR: Eight ice skating athletes including national ice skating queen, Anja Chong were picked to represent the country in the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, which is scheduled on Nov 30 to Dec 11.
The four male athletes picked were Sean Yei Qi Jun, Mohamad Hazim Syahmi Shahrum, Khairil Ridhwan Khalil and Oh Han Yuan while the four female athletes were Anja, Doine Tan Shu Yen, Chan Kynie and Ashley Chin.
Short track speed skating vice-president, Cheng Chee Siang said the selections of the athletes were based on the 2019 Malaysian National Short Track Speed Skating Championship, which ended today.
‘’For the short track speed ice skating championship, the selection is only done at one national championship only, namely, today. The criteria of athletic selection is based on their overall ranking positions. The skaters picked are the best in the country,’’ he told Bernama at the Malaysian National Ice Skating Stadium, Empire City.
For the Philippines SEA Games, Cheng said the association targeted two gold medals for the short track speed category, namely, defending the gold medal in the men’s and women’s relay events won at the last edition in Kuala Lumpur.
He said Malaysia had the chance to win the gold medals but must be careful of the stiff competition that will be given by skaters from Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
‘’Undeniably, our women ice skating athletes are very good and respected in South East Asia. They are among the fastest in the South East Asian region.
‘’To ensure they can co-operate as a team in the Philippines later, we will call them all to hold a camp and train together. Most of them are training abroad now,’’ he said.
Commenting further on the positive development of the ice skating sport, Cheng said, after the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games ended, it had attracted the interest of Malaysians, specifically young skaters. — Bernama
