PETALING JAYA: Former Olympian sabre fencer Yu Peng Kean used to fly the flag high for Malaysia on the international arena.

Now he is helping to raise the profile of the Malaysian fencing team.

The 32-year-old achieved his breakthrough as a coach after seeing his charges win the Cadet sabre team gold medal in the Commonwealth Youth Fencing Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, on Monday.

The trio of Teh Zi Hao, Aidan Jared Marcus Lee and Dylan Lee Jia Cheng fought their way to the final before stunning Australia 45-43 to deliver the gold for Malaysia.

Aidan also secured a bronze in the Cadet ranks of individual sabre.

“It has been a long time since Malaysia won gold at the Commonwealth championships level. The last time was back in 2009, so I am happy with the achievement of my fencers.

“Two of the fencers have been with me since they were eight or nine years old, since the day I started coaching.

“It’s great to see them follow in my footsteps and grow into becoming competitive fencers on the international stage.

“I have always been proud to see the Malaysian flag raised when I was competing and it’s the same feeling you get as a coach when your athletes do well, said Peng Kean, who is one of only two Malaysian fencers to have competed on the Olympic stage.

Peng Kean together with Liong Ming Chang and Radhi Hashim won the sabre team gold in the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia, the last time Malaysia won in fencing at the SEA Games level.

He then went on to represent Malaysia in sabre fencing at the 2012 London Olympic Games and then set up Valor Fencing Academy three years ago to help promote fencing to the younger generation.