By AFTAR SINGH
KUALA LUMPUR: Asian champion Lee Hup Wei will be on a double mission in the Laos SEA Games in December.
The 22-year-old high jumper wants to win the gold medal for the second successive Games and also break the 14-year-old meet record of 2.24m set by Malaysia’s Loo Kum Zee in Chiang Mai in 1995.
Hup Wei surprised everyone by breaking Kum Zee’s 13-year-old national record of 2.24m with a height of 2.27m in China Open last year to earn a place in the Beijing Olympics last year.
“I surprised everyone by winning the ATF (Asian Track and Field) gold medal with a height of 2.24m in Jordan two years ago. And with the guidance of coach Jose (Luis Alforo), I believe I can achieve the double in the Loas Games,” said Hup Wei.
He added that he had made good progress since training under the Cuban coach in 2007.
“I am physically and mentally in good shape after recovering from my broken elbow in January,” said Hup Wei, who suffered the injury when he fell awkwardly while doing jumping exercises at the National Sports Council (NSC) gymnasium in Bukit Jalil last November.
Alforo said that he was satisfied with Hup Wei’s performances in international meets thus far this year.
“He has cleared 2.24m in three Asian Grand Prix meets in May. With two months more of hard training, he will be able to better the SEA Games record,” he said.
“My task is also to help him defend his ATF title (in Guangzhou in November).”
Hup Wei made his SEA Games debut in Manila in 2005 and finished fifth with a poor height of 2.11m. In the next Games in Korat, he bagged the gold with a height of 2.19m.
In his run-up to the ATF meet, Hup Wei will compete in two local championships – the Armed Forces Open in Lumut (Sept 30- Oct 2) and the Malaysian Open at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil (Oct 9-11).
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