KUCHING: After five frustrating attempts, Queenie Kung Ni Ting found clarity and calm when it mattered most, producing her best throw of the day to finish fourth at the Singapore Open Athletics Championships.
The national discus thrower from Sarikei, Sarawak, registered a distance of 49.50 metres (m) with her final effort, salvaging a respectable result in what she described as a valuable early-season outing against a strong international field on Thursday (April 16).
Thailand’s Olympian, Subenrat Insaeng, dominated the event with a winning throw of 56.70m, while South Korea’s Jeong Yelim (54.87m) and Shin Yujin (52.68m) secured second and third place respectively.
Another Malaysian, Nur Atiqah Sufiah Hanizam, placed sixth with a throw of 41.41m.
Queenie came into the meet on the back of her silver medal performance at the 2025 SEA Games, where she recorded a personal best of 51.81m at the Suphachalasai National Stadium.
Reflecting on her latest outing, she viewed the competition as an important starting point for her 2026 season.
“It was a very good ‘warm-up’ competition to start my 2026. Not my biggest throw, but I found my excitement and the joy of the game again,” she told Sarawak Tribune when contacted.
Despite struggling to find her rhythm in the earlier rounds, Queenie admitted she had to overcome a wave of self-doubt before her final attempt.
“This was a new experience for me, or I would call it another life lesson. After five disappointing throws, I started feeling anxious, doubting myself, and even placing blame on my own shoulders,” she shared.
However, a conscious shift in mindset proved decisive.
“But then, I tried a different way of talking to myself – ‘Queenie, it’s okay… try one more time, I’m here with you’.
“Because of that shift, I could feel my body relaxing during the final throw. I felt happy, and I managed to hit 49.50m, just a tiny bit shy of my 50m goal,” she added.
While she narrowly missed out on the podium, the result offered encouraging signs, particularly against a field featuring athletes throwing beyond the 52m and 56m marks.
With the season still in its early stages, Queenie will look to build on the positives as she works towards closing the gap on the region’s top throwers.
The Singapore Open Athletics Championships was held from April 15 to 17 at the National Stadium.
