Hong Kong high jump ace Cecilia Yeung Man-wai dismissed suggestions the demands of a busy and expanding commercial schedule were a threat to her budding athletics career. The 22-year-old part-time model returned from India on Tuesday after claiming a silver medal in the women’s high jump in her first appearance at the Asian championships in Bhubaneswar. Yeung will leave for San Francisco on Wednesday for a commercial engagement before returning to Hong Kong early next week to prepare for next month’s World University Games in Taipei, which will be followed by the National Games of China in Tianjin. “I am getting the know-how to strike a balance between training and commercial engagements,” said the University of Hong Kong marketing student ahead of her first trip outside of Asia. “The most important thing is to get sufficient rest so you can be fully focused on training. I would not engage any commercial business before any important event. “It’s more than a commercial engagement as it can also broaden my horizons and give me the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the world.” Yeung set a new Hong Kong high jump record of 1.88 metres in April, but could only manage 1.8 metres in India after failing three attempts at 1.84 metres. I’ll prove myself with my athletic ability rather than my looks, says Cecilia Yeung “I went for training the day before and jumped a personal best 1.62 metres using the scissor-style jump and I knew I was in top form,” she said. “I was still feeling fine after the warm-up session on event day, but then I felt a bit uneasy in the call room as the competition loomed. “Coupled with the rain and thunder that interrupted the competition for 30 minutes, I struggled to get my rhythm.” In India, Nadiya Dusanova of Uzbekistan was the only athlete who cleared 1.84 metres, with China’s Wang Xueyi and Kiu Jingyi tied for second with Yeung. Hong Kong high jump star Cecilia Yeung has to settle for silver at Asian Championships “It’s just the experience I need to accumulate, event after event. The Asian championships was certainly a good lesson that I can learn a lot from,” said Yeung. “I may seek advice from the sports psychologist at the Sports Institute, but I think inexperience was a big factor there.” At the World University Games, Yeung will be competing at the same venue where she set the Hong Kong record. “There should be some advantages, but when all is said and done, you need to perform if you want to achieve good results,” she said. Star athlete and part-time model Yeung Man-wai hoping to make Tokyo Olympics after smashing Hong Kong high jump record Joining Yeung at the World University Games will be Hong Kong long jump record holder Chan Ming-tai, who twice cleared eight metres in India and claim a silver medal with a leap of 8.03 metres. “It was the first time I cleared eight metres in an overseas competition and I did it twice,” said Chan, who set the Hong Kong record of 8.12m at the Wan Chai Sports Ground prior to the Olympic Games last summer. “I am still sharpening some of my new techniques and fortunately it worked in India and hopefully I can do it again in other competitions.” Hong Kong also claimed another medal in India as the men’s 4x100 metre relay team won bronze.