The work between the camps
Before they won pair medals and team titles, WTA’s Jin Kun, Sara Yap and Kok Jun Ee trained together, helped teach and rehearsed demonstrations. They later joined a four-person national Poomsae training group with Chew Wei Yan.
Preparing when the camp was over
Poomsae is taekwondo performed in patterns: sequences of movements practised individually, in pairs or in teams. Performing a routine means learning the movements and how they fit together.
Malaysia was already sending athletes to Poomsae events before 2015. Athletes came together for short camps ahead of specific events and did much of the preparation between camps themselves.
At WTA, Jin Kun, Hong Kai, Sara and Jun Ee were part of an early senior group under Master Tan. They helped teach and rehearsed demonstrations as well as developing their own taekwondo. Their responsibilities reached beyond an individual competition routine.
Three WTA athletes in a four-person intake
A more continuous national intake brought WTA’s Jin Kun, Sara and Jun Ee together with Chew Wei Yan from another club. It followed the earlier event-based preparation.
Hong Kai had shared the WTA senior group’s training and demonstrations. His path continued through demonstration and study.
The WTA athletes below were three members of the national intake. Chew Wei Yan was its fourth member.
Jin Kun Yong
Trained, helped teach and prepared demonstrations at WTA before his national Poomsae chapter.
Sara Yap Khim Wen
Malaysian Poomsae athlete with a published history as a WTA senior instructor and coach.
Kok Jun Ee
A WTA senior whose Malaysian results span pair and team Poomsae.
The team-mates appear in the results
From 2015 to 2018, the athletes reached podiums in pairs, in teams and as individuals.
2015
Sara and Jun Ee share SEA Games silver
At the Singapore SEA Games, Sara and Jun Ee won mixed-pair silver for Malaysia. Jun Ee also won men’s-team bronze.
2016
A team title in Hong Kong
Jin Kun, Kok Jun Ee and Chew Wei Yan won men’s-team gold for Malaysia at the 29th Asian Cities Taekwondo Championships. All three came from the four-person intake. The organiser’s result book lists Jin Kun as Yong Jin Kun.
2017
Sara’s individual gold in Kuala Lumpur
Sara won women’s individual Poomsae gold at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. Two years after the silver with Jun Ee, she had added an individual title.
2018
An Asian Games podium
Sara won women’s individual bronze at the Jakarta–Palembang Asian Games. Her results now spanned SEA Games pair and individual medals and an Asian Games podium. She also taught Poomsae at WTA.
A national story with many contributors
Malaysia’s World Poomsae medals span several editions: one bronze in Taipei in 2018; one silver and two bronzes in Goyang in 2022; and one silver and one bronze in Hong Kong in 2024. Athletes, coaches and clubs across the country contributed to those results.
2026 · A younger WTA athlete reaches the World podium
Chin Ken Haw, Augustine Linggi Randy Owen A. and Yeap Zhi Bin won Male Team Under 30 bronze for Malaysia in Chuncheon. Ken’s WTA connection brings a younger generation into the story.
Chew Wei Yan also featured in Malaysia’s four podium results at those championships. A decade earlier, he had won the Asian Cities team title with Jin Kun and Jun Ee. The team-mates and categories changed; the names connect the different chapters.
Follow what they did next
Sara’s teaching, Jun Ee’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu competition and Hong Kai’s professional work continue the story beyond these results.