M’sia bag two more gold as Japan reign supreme
KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian karate squad added two more gold medals as Japan reigned supreme in the 18th AKF Cadet, Junior and Under-21 Karate Championship that ended in Likas yesterday.
Ooi San Hong and Somanroy Arulveeran made top podium finishes on the final day of the three-day championship, where Malaysia also added one silver and one bronze.
That brought the national squad total medals won to three golds, two silvers and five bronzes to finish fourth overall.
In yesterday’s under-21 competitions, San Hong’s neat and energetic executions won him the gold medal in the Male Individual Kata.
He defeated highly favoured Japan exponent Kikuchi Ryonosuke in the final while Li Chi Kong of Hong Kong, China and Laode Andinudin from Indonesia settled for bronzes.
Somanroy then brought another huge cheers among the home crowds at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex multi-purpose hall when he claimed the Male Kumite +84kg gold shortly after.
The lanky national karateka, who was a silver medallist last time out, however, was made to fight hard before clinching a narrow 2-1 win over Ueyama Daina of Japan in the final.
Mousa Daghash of Jordan and Bondoc Adam Ortiz of the Philippines settled for joint third placing.
Malaysia’s other medallists yesterday were Madhuri Poovanesan who finished with a silver after losing to Kobayashi Nao in the Female Kumite -50kg title match. Ariana Lim Junyi also won a medal after finishing third in the Female Individual Kata.
For the record, Malaysia’s medallist in the opening two days were Hari Sankar Sureeya Sankar with a gold in the Junior Kumite Male - 55kg, Pavithran Sivanesan Pillai (silver - Cadet Male Kumite - 57kg), Thevendran Sundram Kaliana (bronze - Cadet Male Kumite - 52kg), Logen Kumar Vijaya (bronze - Cadet Male Kumite - 63kg), Pillai Sivanesan Geerijaieswaran (bronze - Junior Male Kumite - 61kg category) and the Junior Team Kata (bronze).
As for Sabahan exponents, there was no podium finish achieved this time around after the best hope, the 2018 silver medallist Pressy Misty Philip, lost in her first round bout to China’s Cai Hanqi 1-8.
The top performers among the eight Sabah karatekas were Carrie Elvira Wallitus (Cadet Female Kumite - 47kg), Prisca Easter Philip (Cadet Female Kumite +54kg), Syahirah Amirah Azlan (U21 Female Kumite - 61kg) and Richal Mattan (U21 Male Kumite - 55kg) who finished fifth in their respective categories.
Meanwhile, Japan showed their powerhouse status by collecting a massive 16 gold in addition to seven silver and six bronze medals to finish top of the medal standings.
Kazakhstan was second with four golds, eight silvers and five bronzes followed by Saudi Arabia with four golds, one silver and five bronzes.
Sabah played host to the championship for the second time after 2008, where overwhelming response of over 500 exponents from 33 countries took part.