PHNOM PENH: Two-time world champion Tan Cheong Min’s long wait to make an appearance at the SEA Games has paid off handsomely after becoming the first Malaysian athlete to win two gold medals at the biennial Games here yesterday.
The double gold achievement came after the 24-year-old 2017 and 2019 world champion topped the women’s Taolu (Nandao+Nangun) final held at Chroy Changvar Convention Centre thus adding to her gold collection after prevailing in the Nanquan event on Wednesday.
Cheong Min, who was crowned the National Sportswoman at the 2019/2020 National Sports Awards ceremony, described the success of winning two golds as something very valuable after the event was not contested in the previous two editions of the SEA Games.
She said the victory made her wait to debut at the SEA Games worthwhile and was even more meaningful that she also won Nanquan event.
“This success is very important to me because in the previous two editions ,the event was not contested. So now I have won this (second) gold and I think it (the wait) was worth it.
“Even though I have already emerged as the world champion, it was in the Nandao event, this time at the SEA Games I won the gold in Nanquan and today’s event (Nandao+Nangun). Apart from that, I also get to be part of the Malaysian contingent at the SEA Games,” she said when met here.
At the same time, she was also thrilled to be the first Malaysian athlete to win two gold medals.
Cheong Min said she had a look at the list of national contingent gold winners on social media the morning before the event started and found that there was not a single athlete whose picture was uploaded twice.
“So the moment I won the gold today I screamed because I couldn’t believe I won the second gold and secondly my mission here is over. For me, it is like moving closer to the Asian Games 2022 because there are also combined disciplines.
“Actually, today’s event made me a little nervous because I was afraid of making a mistake that could affect my ranking to perform at the Asian Games,” she said.
Cheong Min won the Nandao+Nangun event gold today after collecting a total of 19.16 points.
The silver medal was won by Vietnamese athlete Phan Thi Tu Binh who collected a total of 18,413 points while Myanmar’s Aye Thitsar Myint collected 18,303 points to take home the bronze. – BERNAMA
