SEA Games gold medallist, Ervin Chang, is ready to take on the challenges of professional life. The 24-year-old golfer made his intentions known at the SEA Games team award ceremony recently attended by the Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ti Lian Ker, Malaysian Golf Association (MGA) representatives and the parents of the players.
SEA Games individual and team gold medallist announced that he has turned professional during the MGA award ceremony at RSGC
Chang, who created history by being the first Malaysian to win the individual golf gold medal in the SEA Games and who helped his teammates win the team gold medal after 21 years, said that he planned to play the two Asian Development Tour events in Indonesia as well as any PGM Tour events in the country. Come 2023, he will try his luck in the Asian Tour Qualifying School.
Ervin Chang, Marcus Lim, K Rhaasrikanesh and A Nateeshvar, Jeneath Wong, Mirabel Ting and Ng Jing Xuen were awarded MGA’s Certificate of Excellence by the Sports Minister for their historic victory of bagging two gold medals, one silver and one bronze in heart-stopping play at the Heron Lake Golf Course & Resort, Hanoi, especially so in the men’s team matchplay event where K Rhaasrikanesh displayed tremendous nerves of steel to defeat defending champions Thailand.
Mirabel Ting, the team silver medallist, was the only golfer from the women’s team who was able to attend the award ceremony. Her teammate Jeneath Wong, who also captured the individual bronze medallist, followed via Zoom. The third team member, 14-year-old Ng Jing Xuen, was in Singapore playing in the LLD International Amateur Championship. The women’s team showed great fighting spirit to win the silver medal in the team event.
Meanwhile, in his speech, the Sports Minister said that his ministry would look into acquiring financial resources that would enable the association to hire a golf coach for the national team. The MGA has been without a coach for some time now, with the association’s assistant manager Shairul Erwin gamely taking on the role of temporary golf coach. The Minister and President of MGA Tan Sri Dato Setia Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor lauded the golf team for their fighting spirit and success despite the lack of a professional golf coach, hailing them as gladiators who managed to subdue a strong Thai team.
