National taekwondo head coach Yap Yih Ting wants the sport to be reincluded in the national core sports programme.

He said the consideration should be made based on the bronze medal achievement by athlete Yap Khim Wen in the Poomsae event at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

"Taekwondo has met the medal target set (bronze) and it is important to be given full attention.

"Both the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Council (NSC) need to think about all these aspects to re-include the sport in the core sports programme," he told reporters after arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) from Indonesia.

He also hoped that taekwondo would receive financial assistance to make further progress.

Last year, taekwondo was dropped from the NSC's core sports programme due to unsatisfactory performance, doping issues and rifts within the sport's association.

Not much hope was placed on the taekwondo squad at the Asian Games this time, however Khim Wen pulled off a pleasant surprise, bagging the country's first medal at the Games.

- Bernama