HANOI - He lost by 0.001 and to many, that may seem like a heartbreakingly narrow margin, but Jowen Lim remained unflustered after his men’s changquan event.
The national wushu exponent was second behind Malaysia’s Clement Ting yesterday after they both scored 9.70 points. While the overall scores were the same, Ting was awarded the gold because the detailed scores showed he had 0.001 of a point more.
Indonesia’s Seraf Naro Siregar finished third with 9.69 points.
But Lim, 23, who won gold in this event in 2017, was cheerful as he addressed the media at the Cau Giay Gymnasium in Hanoi.
He said: “This is the nature of wushu. The scoring differences are always very small (and can go to) three, four or five decimal places.
“What I was lacking compared to the gold medallist was probably on the technical side so I will work harder on that part of my routine.
“I’m not disappointed. To me, a podium is always good enough. Obviously I would love to get a gold for Singapore but a silver is more than enough.”
Lim had finished sixth at the 2019 edition in Manila. Compatriot Yong Yi Xiang won gold.
He will compete in the men’s daoshu and gunshu combined event today and tomorrow and is targeting more silverware.
“I felt really good about my performance… so I’m going to use this as a benchmark for the next event,” he noted. “I always come to competitions hoping to do a perfect routine for the judges because that’s what I get the most fulfilment from.”
His silver was the Republic’s first wushu medal in Hanoi. Teammate Chan Jun Kai added a second medal shortly after, claiming the men’s taijiquan bronze with a score of 9.57 points, behind Malaysia’s Tan Zhi Yan (9.71) and Jones Llabres Inso (9.70) of the Philippines.
This was Chan’s second Games medal after he won a bronze in the taijijian five years ago in Kuala Lumpur.
The 21-year-old, admitted he did not expect a podium finish as he had made a small mistake during his routine and felt he could have done better. “The next thing is how you’re going to cope. (So I will) forget the medal, start from zero and try to work my way up again,” said Chan, who competes in the taijijian today.
In other events, Singapore’s Randall Lim finished ninth and last in the men’s nandao while Isabel Chua finished sixth of seven in the women’s jianshu.
