(From left) Sia, Kee, Ngu and Liong at the Asian Youth Championship in Thailand.
SIBU: Sarawak’s track and field athletes returned from the 2nd U-17 Asian Youth Championship in Thailand with a silver and a bronze medals recently.
Bukit Jalil-based Grace Wong took the silver in the hammer with a throw of 59m.
It was a slight distance away from her personal best of 60.40m but Grace was glad to help Sarawak win its first ever silver medal in the Asian championship.
She is currently undergoing intensive training at Bukit Jalil in preparation for the coming Kuala Lumpur SEA Games and also the IAAF Youth Championship in Kenya in July.
Meanwhile, Ngu Ing Biao of Sarikei SMK Tinggi bagged the bronze in the discus when he registered a distance of 52.48m, which was far from his personal best of 53.63m. The next assignment for the current national U-17 discus champion is the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas in July.
Chief coach Liong Shueng Keong said both of them are not expected to return with any medals from the respective championships in Kenya and Bahamas.
“The IAAF championship in Kenya and the Commonwealth Youth championship in Bahamas will be a testing time for the duo and how they perform depend very much on their mental strength,” he added.
Two other athletes, Fabian Sia Sung Siong from SMK Tong Hua Bintangor and Kee Jee Wen from SMK Riam Road Miri, failed to win any medals.
But Sia showed promising sign when he managed to register 60.26m in the hammer throw event.
He is likely to represent Sarawak in the next Sukma and he also hoped to qualify for next year’s Asian Youth Championship to be held in Japan.
Coach Liong Shueng Keong was happy with the performance of his boys, saying it surpassed their expectations.
“We only expect to qualify for the top five,” he said.
Sarawak’s athletes failed to shine at the last Asian Championship in Qatar. Athletes from 44 countries took part in the four-day championship.