Asian Games: Singapore's Jowen Lim impresses on debut, misses out on wushu bronze by
JAKARTA: As Singapore wushu exponent Jowen Lim walked towards reporters after his gunshu (cudgel) event on Tuesday (Aug 21), he was limping badly.
He winced each time his left leg touched the floor, but the 19-year-old still afforded a wry smile.
Advertisement"I'm ok," said the Asian Games debutant.
Just minutes prior to that moment, Lim was on the competition floor - spinning through the air doing acrobatic stunts - to cheers from the crowd at the Jakarta International Expo arena.
But they did not realise that Lim was nursing a sprained left ankle, an injury he sustained one week before during training. Lim landed badly on a jump, causing his left feet to turn on the floor and twisting his ankle.
That did not stop the two-time world junior champion from scoring a 9.70 for the event on Tuesday morning - the fourth best score among 10 competitors.
AdvertisementAdvertisementLim also scored a 9.70 on Monday for the daoshu (broadsword) cateogry.
His combined score of 19.40 points was just 0.01 point short of bronze, which was clinched by home favourite Achmad Hulaefi.
China's Wu Zhaohua blazed the competition with a combined score of 19.52 while South Korea's Cho Seungjae won silver with 19.45.
When he was asked if his injury had cost him a medal, Lim was humble in defeat.
"Honestly I really know where I stand compared to my competitors. So the top three totally deserved the positions. Getting a fourth for me was well deserved too," he said.
"Everybody wants to stand on the podium so I would want that as well but even if I don't, to me it's OK.
"A podium standing is a bonus. For a wushu athlete, we just have to do our best and showcase our capabilities."
However Lim admitted that he had to "slow down" on the stunts for his gunshu routine because of his ankle.
"I'm not happy with my performance because i was not able to showcase my full ability ... I'm fairly disappointed because I had to change my routine I had been training for the last few months," said Lim, who was cleared by doctors to compete only on Sunday.
Lim has been taking painkillers daily and had to ice his feet after his daoshu routine on Monday caused it to hurt.
But he maintained that he never planned to withdraw from competing, especially given that he deferred his studies at the Singapore Sports School for one year to focus on the Asian Games.
"I sacrificed a lot for this competition, I had to defer my studies," he said.
"Honestly I had no intention to not compete, so if the doctors would not clear me, I would ask them if i could just risk it and do my best."
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JAKARTA: As Singapore wushu exponent Jowen Lim walked towards reporters after his gunshu (cudgel) event on Tuesday (Aug 21), he was limping badly.
He winced each time his left leg touched the floor, but the 19-year-old still afforded a wry smile.
Advertisement"I'm ok," said the Asian Games debutant.
Just minutes prior to that moment, Lim was on the competition floor - spinning through the air doing acrobatic stunts - to cheers from the crowd at the Jakarta International Expo arena.
But they did not realise that Lim was nursing a sprained left ankle, an injury he sustained one week before during training. Lim landed badly on a jump, causing his left feet to turn on the floor and twisting his ankle.
That did not stop the two-time world junior champion from scoring a 9.70 for the event on Tuesday morning - the fourth best score among 10 competitors.
AdvertisementAdvertisementLim also scored a 9.70 on Monday for the daoshu (broadsword) cateogry.
His combined score of 19.40 points was just 0.01 point short of bronze, which was clinched by home favourite Achmad Hulaefi.
China's Wu Zhaohua blazed the competition with a combined score of 19.52 while South Korea's Cho Seungjae won silver with 19.45.
When he was asked if his injury had cost him a medal, Lim was humble in defeat.
"Honestly I really know where I stand compared to my competitors. So the top three totally deserved the positions. Getting a fourth for me was well deserved too," he said.
"Everybody wants to stand on the podium so I would want that as well but even if I don't, to me it's OK.
"A podium standing is a bonus. For a wushu athlete, we just have to do our best and showcase our capabilities."
However Lim admitted that he had to "slow down" on the stunts for his gunshu routine because of his ankle.
"I'm not happy with my performance because i was not able to showcase my full ability ... I'm fairly disappointed because I had to change my routine I had been training for the last few months," said Lim, who was cleared by doctors to compete only on Sunday.
Lim has been taking painkillers daily and had to ice his feet after his daoshu routine on Monday caused it to hurt.
But he maintained that he never planned to withdraw from competing, especially given that he deferred his studies at the Singapore Sports School for one year to focus on the Asian Games.
"I sacrificed a lot for this competition, I had to defer my studies," he said.
"Honestly I had no intention to not compete, so if the doctors would not clear me, I would ask them if i could just risk it and do my best."
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