Karate bronze medalist dedicates success to sports minister

JAKARTA: National karate exponent, S Prem Kumar has dedicated the success to clinch his first bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang to Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

He bagged the bronze medal in the men’s under 60kg event after defeating Hong Kong’s Lee Chun Ho 5- 0 in a bronze medal decider at the Plenary Hall, Jakarta Convention Centre.

Prem Kumar shared the bronze medal with Uzbekistan athlete, Sadriddin Saymatov who beat Nguyen Van Hai of Vietnam 8-1 in the other bronze medal deciding match.

The event was won by Indonesia’s Rifki Ardiansyah Arrosyiid who overpowered Iran’s Amir Mahdi Zadeh, 9-7 in the final.

“I would like to dedicate the bronze medal to the new Youth and Sports Minister, my family, teammates karate team management and the people for their support to the country’s athletes.

“Despite failing to advance to the final, I am satisfied with my achievement as this is my debut in the Asian Games,” he told Malaysian media after the match.

Prem revealed that he had to increase his weight to above 55kg in a month to replace teammate S Senthil Kumaran who was forced to withdraw from the Games after sustaining an injury in the 15th Asian Senior Karate Championships in Amman, Jordan, last month.

“I only had a month to raise my weight above 55kg to participate in the event and I am happy with my best performance today,” he said.

He also hoped to gain positive results in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament next month to earn a slot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Earlier another national athlete, Syakilla Salni Jefry Krishnan who was the flag bearer at the Asian Games Opening Ceremony failed to win any medals after losing to Wong Sok I of Hong Kong in the women’s under 55kg kumite bronze medal deciding match.

The loss meant she also failed to repeat her golden feat in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea in the women’s under 61kg kumite.

The Malaysian Karate Federation is targeting to collect five medals at the 2018 Asian Games.