Mathivani sets perfect example with team gold despite injury

TEACHER M. Mathivani (pic) felt bad when she had to leave her students behind to train with the women’s karate team for the KL SEA Games.

But after she had sparked a superbb comeback – despite carrying a groin injury – in Malaysia’s 3-1 over Vietnam for the gold medal, surely her students wouldn’t mind as they will have a national hero teaching themm when she goes back to the classroom.

Against Vietnam yesterday, Malaysiann karate queen Syakilla Salni Jefry lost the first bout via disqualification at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

Mathivani then stepped up to level the tie with a 3-1 win in the second bout. S. Shree Sharmini sealed an 8-2 win in the third bout to seal the gold medal for Malaysia.

Mathivani, who just recovered from the groin injury picked up at the Asian Karate Championships in Kazakhstan in July, said she’s glad that she managed to help the team defend the gold medal won at the Myanmar Games in 2013. “I’m a teacher and for the last two months I’ve been juggling my time betweenb teaching and training. My routine starts at 6.30am and ends at 7pm,” said Mathivani, who teaches Mathematics and Science at the Beacon International School in Cheras.

“I was also nursing a painful groin muscle tear for two weeks. I could not drive or even stand for long hours.

“I feel bad for my students as I had to leave for training but I’m thankful for my employers for being understanding and arranging flexible working hours for me to accommo- date my training schedule.

“I need to thank a lot of people for this gold medal. My family and church members and my students for their support. I also want to thank the National Sports Institute (NSI) for treating me and my teammates.

“This medal is for Malaysia.”

The national karate squad ended the final day of competition with a 2-1-1 haul to take their medal tally to 7-2-4, which exceeds the six-gold target set by the Malaysia Karate Federation (Makaf ).

Earlier, the men’s kata team of Emmanuel Leong, Thompson Hoe and Lim Chee Wei landed the gold medal after beating Thailand and Vietnam in the round-robin format.

The women’s kata team ended up with a silver after losing to Vietnam in the final while the men’s kumite team settled for bronze.