Team bags gold medal after missing flight, thanks M’sians for donation
A taekwondo team from Sabah, who were on the verge of withdrawing from an international tournament here, have succeeded in winning a gold medal yesterday thanks to the ‘extraordinary help’ of Malaysians who raised funds for their flight tickets.
Leonel Bellvin, who represented Choi Jung Hwa Sabah Taekwon-do Association, clinched the gold in the kyorugi (combat) 38-45kg in boys’ 1112 years old category in the Hwarang Warrior International Taekwondo Championships.
The success was a memorable moment for the team after overcoming a difficult ordeal when they missed the flight from Sandakan to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Team manager Valerie Grace Peter Sompunodo, when met by Bernama, said with the help of bighearted Malaysians, they managed to raise funds amounting to RM18,000 within four hours to buy flight tickets to Kuala Lumpur.
Valerie Grace said they were supposed to board the plane from Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan at 9.30am on Feb 28, but due to the delay in the flight schedule, they arrived in Sandakan later than planned.
As a result, they missed their next flight to Kuala Lumpur and were stranded for several hours at Sandakan Airport.
“I have been looking for the cheapest flight ticket since last year for this competition and the cost was funded by the parents.
“But when we missed the flight, we have no choice but to accept the situation and decided to withdraw from the competition.
“However, when we arrived in Kota Kinabalu again (on Feb 28), a generous person through Riniejene Anthony’s Facebook account came forward and helped raise the funds through social media and also managed the purchase of new flight tickets for the team the next day (Feb 29),” he said.
Meanwhile, Leonel, who turns 12 this March 7, said the success meant a lot to him.
He had only been training for a year with the team.
“This is a birthday present for me and I want to win many more medals and make the state, the school and my parents proud,” said Leonell, who is of Dusun ethnicity and a Year 6 student at SK Popok, Kota Marudu.
Meanwhile, association’s coach Safuan Fathy Amran said he was very moved by the fundraising efforts.
The 33-year-old said his team have gone through many challenges prior to the tournament, including the lack of facilities and suitable locations for training, as the team are made up of those from Kota Marudu and Pitas, mostly from poor families.
According to Safuan, the distance between the two districts is about 50km, making it difficult for him to choose a suitable training location.
“Some of them (parents) cried when they found out that we missed the flight... I was sad and very disappointed, but with this gold medal, it is like a motivation for the team to continue with the fight here in the tournament... thank you Malaysians,” he said.