THE Year of Horse is said to be good for the Ox zodiac, and national wushu exponent Diana Bong will hope to ride good luck in 2014.
The Kuching-born athlete boasts a long list of achievements including one world and one Asian title as well as three SEA Games gold medals since making her international debut in 2004.
At 29, she is considered âoldâ as martial arts is a sport that emphasises strength and speed and surely, the task of continuing to perform at top level is becoming harder than ever.
But Diana refused to quit as she has some unfinished business as the nanquan (Southern-style) specialist has one title missing from her collection â the Asian Games gold medal.
âI have won every competition apart from Asian Games gold medal and the Incheon Games in September will be crucial as it could be my last Asian Games,” said Diana, who won her maiden world title in Kuala Lumpur last November.
âIn 2006 Doha, I won a bronze and returned empty handed four years later in Guangzhou. Itâs the hardest to win,â said Diana.
âThereâs absolutely no room for mistakes with the format combining scores from the various disciplines (nangun, nandao, nanquan).â
Diana, however, is also aware she will have to break the near invincible Chinese domination to win gold.â
martial artists if she hopes to become Asian Games champion.
“The Chinese are just way too good, it’s often that the rest of the world only have a chance of winning when their events are without Chinese exponents,” added Diana.
Diana graduated with a Degree in Mass Communications from Universiti Putra Malaysia, but has put her Masters on hold as Asian Games glory means more to her.
