The 18th Asian Games will be held in Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September. At the beginning of this year, the Macao SAR represented the Qualification Selection Technical Committee to analyze and evaluate the events in which the SAR will participate in, and decided to compete in 16 competitive events in the Asian Games this year, which include water sports (swimming/diving/synchronized swimming), track and field, badminton, bowling, boxing, canoeing (hydrostatic), cycling (road/track), fencing, golf, judo, karate, squash, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and martial arts. In the final stages of preparation for the competitions, the athletes are trying hard to achieve brilliant results.
Intensive Training for the Wushu Team
The Wushu team has entered the second stage of preparation for competing in the Asian Games. At the end of last year, ten selected athletes have engaged in an intensive winner training, laying out a good foundation through practice.Then, the Wushu team will keep on their intensive training and arrange for two or three adaptation tests in preparation for the Asian Games. The objective of the tests is to help athletes to adapt to different competition fields and environments, helping them to enhance their own psychological awareness.
Currently, 13 members from the adult group of Taolu are competing for 7 quotas for competing in the Asian Games. It is expected that the official name list will be decided in late April to early May. The list will be decided through evaluating the athletes' conditions and recent comprehensive results they obtained. So far, the method of intensive training involving all members have been adopted. The coaches from the Wushu General Association reminded the athletes that they should not place themselves under too much pressure, which may affect preparations. They expect that the athletes can both maintain focus and relax in preparation for the competitions.
Karate Team Practice through Competition
Karate is a common sport in which Macao athletes excel. It is expected that the Macao Karate Team will aim at medals in this Asian Games. The team will send four male and four female athletes to compete in the Asian Games in Indonesia. Members such as the female senior member Ka Ka Wai (who has won bronze three times in the Asian Games), Lou Wai Kit (the second runner-up in the 2017 Asian Championships), Kuok Kin Hang (a gold-medalist in the 2013 East Asian Games) and Wong Sok I (a runner-up in the 2016 East Asian Championships) will lead new members such as Ng Tou Sam, Chong Wai Lon, Sou Soi Lam, and Cheong I Cheng to compete at of the Asian Games.
In preparation for the Asian Games, the Karate General Association employed Kuok Kin Hang as the coach at the beginning of this year. Kuok, who will compete in“Kata”, went to Japan to participate in group training from February to April. In terms of“Shotokan”, two teams composed of national athletes came to Macao in January and March respectively to practice with the locals. Some of the members of the Macao team also participated in the Karate World Championships held in Spain and Morocco in February and April respectively. They also competed in the East Asian Karate Championships held in Korea in late April, thus practicing through competition.
Next, three full-time athletes, Kuok Kin Hang, Lou Wai Kit, and Wong Sok I, will visit Japan and Iran in May for group training. In June, they will participate in the Karate Championships held in Turkey. In July, they will join the Asian Championships held in Jordan.
Aiming to Win Medals in Triathlon
Macao triathlon team, who came short of a medal by a close margin in two consecutive Asian Games, will continue to aim for a spot at the awarding podium this year. It was decided that Chio Weng Chon, Wong Chin Wa, Chao Man Kit, Hoi Long and Lei Cho Ieng would participate in both the individual and relay events.
Currently ranked 9th in Asia, Hoi Long is Macao's hope for a medal. However, she has not fully recovered from an injury she sustained during practice a few months ago. She stated,“As the competition is drawing closer, I can only try my best not to aggravate my injury while I continue my training.”So far, the team trains on all seven days of a week. Meanwhile, they improve their skills by taking part in other contests. They participated in the Triathlon Asian Cup in June.
Coach Kenta Ando hopes that the team will win a medal, which is their goal. In April, the team completed the first-phase training as in the preparatory training plan for the triathlon team in Miyazaki, Japan. In July, they will engage in the second-phase training in Nagano, Japan. Hoi Long has set a personal goal for herself, “The primary task is to keep the best eight title. I will do my best to catch up with the first group and get the best result as possible. In terms of the relay event, I hope to get into the best six.”
Boxing Team Concentrates Their Effort
Macao boxing team will dispatch Ng Kuok Kun, who has earned 12 consecutive wins in professional competition, to compete in the Asian Games in Indonesia. The regulations of the amateur boxing event in the games as imposed on the professional boxers are weakened, that means that Ng Kuok Kun can demonstrate his strength at the arena of the Asian Games under circumstances similar to those in professional competition. So far, the boxer trains under the instructions of coach Chan Iok Seng. Ng Kuok Kun's training will not be focused on his endurance, instead, he will focus on the adaptability to the faster pace in the amateur boxing competition, striving to gain the highest score as possible during three rounds lasting 9 minutes.
Under the authority of the Boxing General Association, it is expected that there will be more than ten opponents registered in the same weight class. It is believed that Ng Kuok Kun, who has experience in a number of professional competitions, will have an advantage in order to advance to the competition at a higher level.
Senior Squash Team Senior Members Lead Junior Members
The development of the squash event in Macao is in its transition period. The senior members will lead the junior members to compete in the Asian Games in Indonesia this year. Lio Kuai Chi and brother Lio Chon Man will collaborate and lead Ieong Weng Chi, who will compete in the Asian Games for the first time, to obtain experience in competition. They will compete in the men's singles and women's singles. To prepare for the Asian Games, the coach Lam Chi Man arranged a plan for group training and competitions for these three athletes. Lio Kuai Chi and Ieong Weng Chi engaged in a two-week group training at Hong Kong Sports Institute in early March. They will also participate in group training and competitions in New Zealand in May; Lio Chon Man and Lio Kuai Chi will also practice their skills in competitions, competing in the Korean Open and East Asian Championships to test results of their training. Ieong Weng Chi will also participate in the World Junior Championships and Hong Kong Junior Open before competing in the Asian Games.
Nurturing Tacit Understanding in Bowling
The Macao bowling team has tentatively announced the names of the athletes competing in the Asian Games in Indonesia, which includes six male and six female athletes, such as Lei Tak Man, Choi Kit Fan and Wong Son Ian.
So far, the members of the team are in good conditions. Before the Asian Games, there will be three competitions in which they can warm up and test their own conditions and skills. The competitions are the Thailand Bowling Open in April, Macao Open in June and Hong Kong Open in July. The system of the bowling event in the Asian Games this year has changed, as it has been changed into the team-based system where two groups of three and one group of six apply for competition. Therefore, in these three warm-up competitions, groups of three will be formed to nurture the tacit understanding between team members, so that the group members who will compete later, can make effective adjustments depending on the members' pitches.
In addition, the team will also engage in group training abroad, where each player's motions in all directions will be recorded with video-taping equipment. Then the motions will be fine-tuned to make sure that all members will compete in the series of competitions in their best conditions.
Cycling Team Strengthens Their Endurance
The Macao Cycling Team has started to shine at the Asian-level arena in recent years. In particular, from the junior group events, a group of new athletes have emerged. They have also made sufficient preparations for succeeding their seniors to open a new chapter as they aim to become full-time athletes.
As the Asian Games are approaching, the cycling team will dispatch three male members and one female member to compete. It has been tentatively decided that the male senior member, the team leader Kuok Mun Va, Lao Long San, Ieong Chi Son and the female junior member Ao Hoi Ian, will participate in events such as the road race, road time trial and omnium.
The cycling team, since they came back from the Asian Championships at the beginning of this year, have immediately resumed training. During the six sessions of one-week training regimens, the athletes were committed to an endurance training on bikes which lasts around five to six hours per day. It has also been arranged that they will go to Hong Kong to engage in road and track practice. The coach also made special adjustment of training mode to prepare for the Asian Games. Training focuses on endurance, focusing on strengthening the heart, lungs and muscles. Such a training method will last until the Asian Games. Over the course, the coach will make appropriate adjustments according to athlete status.
Canoe Team Break into the Final
The Macao Canoe Team will compete in the women's rowing event (C-boat) in the Asian Games in Indonesia. Cheong Sin I and Ng Si Cheng, who have rich experience in the Asian Games, will collaborate. They aim to break into the final of the women's 500-meter doubles in the canoe (C-boat) event. Meanwhile, they will also compete in the 500-meter doubles in the kayak event (K-boat). For the men's event, two freshmen in the Asian Games, Chan Kit Fong and Lao Hou Kit, will be dispatched to compete in the singles and the doubles competitions to gain valuable experience.
The canoe team developed training for women's rowing in 2013, influenced by the rising global trend. Cheong Sin I and Ng Si Cheng have participated in the competitions at the level of the Asian Championships and the World Cup several times. Although the rowing event was not established in the Incheon Asian Games four years ago, their performance in the 500-meter doubles in the kayak event was up to expectation, as they broke into the semi-final. In addition, Cheong Sin I will also participate in the World Kayak League Training Program again. She will visit Hungary to receive training from world-class coaches and compete in two World Cup events, striving to maintain her competitive spirit up to the Asian Games.
