Striking Asiad gold a lofty goal for karate exponents

PETALING JAYA: It will be an uphill task for Malaysia’s karate squad to retain a two-gold medal haul at the Asian Games in Indonesia next month if the results from the Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan, are of any indication.

The Asian meet concluded yesterday with Malaysia winning three silvers and one bronze.

Celine Lee achieved a breakthrough finish after she reached the final of the women’s individual kata (non sparring) with a 1-0 win over Nguyen Thi Puong of Vietnam.

However, the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medallist settled for silver after losing 0-5 to Shimizu Kiyou of Japan.

Celine earned her second silver medal as part of the women’s kumite team following a 0-5 defeat to Japan in the final.

The third silver medal came from Ivan Oh, Hoe Thomson and Emmanuel Leong in the men’s team kata while Selvam Prem Kumar clinched the sole bronze in the men’s kumite below 55kg event.

The silver medal wins made up for the disappointing performances of Podium Programme athletes Lim Chee Wei and Syakilla Salni Jefry Krisnan in the men’s individual kata and women’s kumite below 55kg respectively.

Chee Wei was eliminated at the quarter-finals following a 0-1 defeat at the hands of eventual winner Sayed Salman of Kuwait.

Syakilla, who will be the Malaysian flagbearer for the Asian Games contingent next month, was unfortunate to be pitted against Taiwan’s Wen Tzu-yun in the first round.

She lost in a sudden-death decision as her Taiwanese rival went on to retain the gold medal.

It does not bode well for Chee Wei and Syakilla as both were the gold medallists for Malaysia at the last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, four years ago.

Malaysia Karate Federation (Makaf ) secretary general Vincent Chen said the mission to win gold would remain.

“We want to come back with at least one gold medal. The standards have gone up and other countries have improved as karate will be in the next Olympics in Tokyo,” he said.