HUP WEI SHOWS HE’S FAR FROM A SPENT FORCE

KUALA LUMPUR: National high jumper Lee Hup Wei was heartbroken when the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) dropped him from the squad for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4-15.

But a determined Hup Wei showed the selectors he was far from a spent force by leaping to a personal best of 2.28m en route to winning a gold medal in the ACT State championships in Canberra, Australia, on Saturday.

And that has revived his hopes of being reconsidered for the Commonwealth Games.

His effort equalled the silver medal-winning mark of 2.28m set by Kyriakos Ioannou of Cyprus in the last Games in Glasgow four years ago.

Hup Wei also improved his personal best by one centimetre as his previous best was 2.27m, which he set at the China Open to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

On Saturday, Hup Wei was in excellent form as he cleared all the five heights of 2.10m, 2.15m, 2.20m, 2.24m and 2.28m in the first attempt.

Two Australians – Brandon Starc won the silver (2.24m) and Nik Bojic bagged bronze (2.20m) in the seven-man final.

Hup Wei was thrilled to bits with his gold medal.

“I was really disappointed when I was dropped from the Games but I never let it affect my performance in Canberra,” said Hup Wei, who featured in the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games.

“It was the best performance of my career as I cleared five different heights, all in the first attempt.

“I have proven that I can still jump and should be considered for the Commonwealth Games,” said Hup Wei, whose next competition is the New South Wales State Championships in Sydney on Feb 4.

Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) president Datuk Karim Ibrahim said they would appeal to the OCM to include Hup Wei for the Games based on his outstanding performance in Canberra.

“He has proven himself in Canberra and should be named for the Games,” said Karim.

Commonwealth Games-bound Nauraj Singh Randhawa also featured in the meet but finished a disappointing fifth with a poor jump of 2.15m.