Young pentathletes gain valuable lessons from Asiad experience

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's young modern pentathletes Jacky Aw Jian Ting and Lim Pei Yao gained valuable experience from competing in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, despite falling short of reaching the final. Coach Nik Lini Hayati Nik Kazem believes the competition provided a learning opportunity for the athletes' development. Jacky, 20, finished 17th in his semi-final group with 1,327 points across fencing, obstacle, swimming, and laser-run events.

Pei Yao, 16, placed 15th with 801 points. The coach acknowledges areas for improvement, particularly in the laser run, where Jacky's time increased from 10 minutes in simulation to 12 minutes during the competition. Nik Lini notes that the team failed to account for the energy required in each discipline, with breaks between events lasting 15 minutes.

While Jacky is disappointed with his finish, he achieved several targets set by the coaching team, such as completing the swimming event in 59 seconds, surpassing the goal of one minute and one second. Coach Nik Lini also recognizes that Malaysia still lags behind other Asian nations in modern pentathlon, but the young athletes have time to improve.