HANGZHOU: The Malaysian contingent has unofficially achieved the 27-medal target set for the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou yesterday.
This comes after kata exponent Lovelly Anne Robberth successfully qualified for the women’s individual kata final at the Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium and will fight against Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu, who won gold in two consecutive editions in 2014 and 2018. Lovelly Anne booked her slot at the final after dominating the second round of Group One with a total of 40.40 points, surpassing her closest competitor, Taiwan’s Chien Hui Hsuan (39.10), who had to settle for the bronze-medal decider.
Meanwhile, Shimizu advanced to the final to defend her gold for the third consecutive time after accumulating a total of 43.30 points in the second round of Group Two. At press time, the Malaysian contingent has already collected a total of 23 medals through sailing, equestrian, squash, wushu, diving, athletics, track cycling, e-sports, sepak takraw, and artistic gymnastics. On the 12th day of the Games today, three more medals are within reach for the Malaysian contingent through squash, as Malaysia advances to the finals in men’s and women’s singles, as well as the mixed doubles, which will take place in the afternoon. – BERNAMA
