KUALA LUMPUR – Joshua Koh I-Jie, 32, and Hans Yoong Wei Shen, 22, are the Malaysian Fencing Federation’s (MFF) top aspirants to seek Paris 2024 Olympics qualification.
MFF treasurer Kimberly Janet Ansibin said as of now, only the two fencers have stated ther interest in vying for Paris 2024 tickets.
“We are looking forward to having them qualify because they wanted to fight for the slots. They need to participate in more tournaments outside, but this will be challenging budget-wise… they’re getting support from their parents.
“The upcoming SEA Games in Cambodia (from May 5-17) and Hangzhou Asian Games in China (from September 23 to October 8) will be among the testing grounds for them in their Olympic bids,” she said.
According to the qualification guidelines, 60 quota places have been allocated in individual events – men’s and women’s sabre, foil, and epee – based on the ranking points accumulated in qualifying tournaments from April 3 this year to April 1, 2024.
The last Malaysian fencer to feature in the Olympics was Yu Peng Kean, who progressed until the men’s sabre round of 32 at the 2012 London Games.
Meanwhile, Kimberly said MFF had set a four-bronze medal target for the Cambodian Games, as the national team are set to participate in the men’s individual and team foil and epee events, as well as women’s individual foil and sabre.
The Malaysian fencing team returned with a silver and three bronze medals from the 2021 Hanoi SEA Games held last year, while the two gold and five bronze feat at the 2011 Indonesian Games remains the best achievement in the last decade. – Bernama, March 2, 2023
