Yu Peng Kean (born 8 May 1991 in Malacca, Malaysia) is a retired Malaysian fencer.[1] At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's sabre, but was defeated in the last 32 by Áron Szilágyi who went on to win gold medal in the event.[2]

Yu Peng Kean
Personal information
Full nameYu Peng Kean
Born (1991-05-08) 8 May 1991 (age 33)
Malacca, Malaysia
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese尤炳堅
Simplified Chinese尤炳坚
Hanyu PinyinYóu Bǐngjiān
Hokkien POJIû Péngkian
Sport
Country Malaysia

Career

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Yu was the second Malaysian fencer to qualify for the Olympics, following Ronnie Theseira who competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics.[3]

Yu suffered a knee injury at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Jakarta, with which he struggled for the remainder of his career. Following the 2012 Summer Olympics, he underwent anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction on both legs. He took bronze at the 2015 SEA Games after being defeated by Vũ Thành An of Vietnam, but re-injured his knee. He underwent surgery again, and planned to compete at the 2017 SEA Games with hopes of winning a silver or gold medal, but the condition of his knee continued to worsen, and he announced his retirement from fencing in February 2017.[4][5]

In 2020, Yu founded the Valor Fencing Academy in Kuala Lumpur.[3] He came out of retirement briefly in 2022 to compete at the delayed 2021 SEA Games.[6] As the Malaysian team had no other sabre fencers at the time, he did not have a training partner before the games, and suffered four back-to-back defeats, thus failing to advance to the semi-finals.[7] Three of Yu's students represented Malaysia at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh: Teh Zi Hao, Keane Leong, and Resha Shaveena Sabaratnam.[8]

Personal life

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Yu graduated from Universiti Putra Malaysia with a bachelor of science in human resource development in 2016.[9] In December 2018, he married fellow Malaysian Olympian Leung Chii Lin. The couple's first child, a daughter, was born in September 2020.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "London2012.com". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Peng Kean Yu". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  3. ^ a b Tan, Ming Wai (14 April 2023). "Yu aims to help Malaysia develop cutting edge in sabre". New Straits Times. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  4. ^ "尤炳坚2月退役 马佩剑靠2新人征东运" [Yu Peng Kean retired in February; Malaysian sabre fencing to rely on two rookies at SEA Games]. Oriental Daily News (Malaysia). 5 July 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Injury prone Yu bows out". Malay Mail. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  6. ^ Fadhli Ishak (12 May 2022). "Peng Kean back to do some 'sabre-rattling'". New Straits Times. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Failed comeback by Peng Kean". New Straits Times. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Debutants have nothing to fear with coach Peng Kean by their side". The Star. 15 April 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Majlis Konvokesyen ke-40" (PDF). Universiti Putra Malaysia. October 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
  10. ^ "尤炳坚梁绮冷 升级当父母". Kwong Wah Yit Poh. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2022.