Para Table Tennis Athlete Chaoming Acknowledges Difficult Mission To Defend Gold In Hangzhou

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- National para table tennis athlete Chee Chaoming admits that he faces a difficult mission to defend the gold medal at the 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.

Newly paired with Brady Chin, 21, he expects fierce competition from the representatives of Indonesia, China, Japan and Thailand who have a line-up of new players at the quadrennial event.

"For me to defend the gold, it's a little difficult because the hosts China, also have new faces, so it's not easy.

"Now we maintain our training, the level of preparation is getting better, we will go to Tianjin (China) for a training camp before going to Hangzhou," he told reporters during a training session at the Malaysia Paralympic Sports Excellence Centre here today.

However, Chaoming, 26, is determined to top the doubles and singles events to qualify for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

"Before this, I competed at the Taiwan Open, and met a new pair from China, I was able to beat them to win the bronze medal, this will encourage me further in Hangzhou later," he said.

Commenting on his new partner, Chaoming said he had no problem pairing with Brady and was confident in the young athlete's abilities.

At the 2018 Para Asian Games in Jakarta, Chaoming won the TT8-9 event with his now-retired partner, Ting Ing Hock.

-- BERNAMA