Celebrating Our Wins For Our Student-Athletes

More medals from our students-athletes in the Dance and Taekwondo Competition!

Roses are red, violets are blue; our student-athletes have been doing great, as they continue to break through!

Let's go over some of the most recent successes of our students.
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Story as a Dancer - Carmen Sham Jia Yi

There’s a misconception surrounding dance that it isn’t a sport; it’s reduced to just a creative art form and nothing else. Dance is actually a true fusion of art and athletic requiring agility and grace in addition to strength, endurance, and technique.

Carmen Sham Jia Yi is an experienced dancer who has been dancing for 10 years since the age of 9.

She recently named Champion at the Allegro 2022 (Amateur Closed) and the Summer International Dance Championship 2022 (Amateur Closed), as well as attained several other awards in other categories.

“I was very happy indeed and proud of myself that I’ve achieved the results I was aiming for. Although I feel stressed before any competition, but I kept telling myself to enjoy the competition and be confident in what I do in order to perform the best on the dance floor.”

The dances which Carmen have competed consist of 5 dances: Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive for the Amateur Open and Amateur Closed categories.

Currently undergoing the Diploma in Business with Information Technology while actively competing in competitions, Carmen truly has a full plate. When asked how she juggles her studies while maintaining her passion for dancing, the answer is simple ­— Time Management.

“I make a conscious effort to plan my time wisely to manage both my studies and my love for dancing. I often need to go to my dance classes right after I finish my classes at Uni, and it does get quite tiring and stressful because I don't have the time to take a break. But I enjoy every moment of it.”

Recently Carmen made her way to Singapore to make her first appearance at the Singapore Open Dance Championships. There was definitely pressure as 16 other couples also made their way through Amateur Closed divisions. After their performance, Carmen and her partner were ranked Top 6 among the 16 couples.

While Carmen is proud of her achievement over the year, the one competition she will never forget is when she represented Malaysia at the Southeast Asia Games (SEA 2019).

“It was such an amazing experience and great exposure for me, witnessing all these great dancers from other countries. It was definitely an unforgettable moment for me.”

Carmen goes on to say that she will continue to train herself and also expanding into other dances in near future.


 

Taekwondo Heroes!

Navigating through university life is tough even as it is. Now, add in Taekwondo practice, personal training, juggling studies, clubs and societies, and making room for personal life — seems like a lot.

Despite being on a full schedule, our Taekwondo heroes — Darrshan A/L Vallimanalan, Crystal Lee Wan Ning, Eyu Ji Yuen, Andrew Denilson, and Liew Zhee Kit Jay pushed themselves to be resilient in spite of these obstacles, they worked together to make the most out of their efforts.

Competing against 400 contestants, they collectively gain 5 Medals in the 12th Milo-Putrajaya Taekwondo Championship 2022 which was held recently in Putrajaya.

It was a tough game with many close calls; however, our APU team took us by surprise and attain flying colours with the games they set out to conquer.

We’ve always been confident of our Taekwondo team. APU’s Senior Sport Executive Mr. Illangovan believes that our Taekwondo team holds the edge in these athletics competitions and APU has always been the powerhouse in this area.

The results of our athletes at the competition are as follows:

Let us all congratulate our student-athletes for their fabulous victories and wishing all the best in their future endeavours!