Karate fails to get its kicks after last man standing bows out

THE Malaysian karate teeam arrived in Jakarta with higgh hopes of contributing gold butt returned home with a wounded reputation.

The last man standing – Kuala Lumpur SEA Games golld medallist R. Sharmendran (pic) – was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the men’s kumite below 75kg competition at Jakarta Convention Center yesterday.

Team captain Sharmendran raiised hopes of giving MMalaysia a second medal after he beat Japan’s WWatanabe Daisuke 3-1 in tthe first round. Sharmendran powered hiss way to the last eight with a 9-1 win over Cambodian Kak Seilapanha but failed to get the better of Pakistani Ghulam Abbas Saadi and lost 5-10.

“I made a small mistake today. I should have defended when I had the lead and my opponent took his chances well. I fought every bout like a final, it’s not easy to win in this weight category,” said Sharmendran, who was competing in his second Asian Games.

With his exit, Malaysia ended their show in Jakarta with only one bronze medal through a gritty effort by debutant S. Prem Kumar in the men’s kumite below 60kg event on Sunday – to mark their worst-ever showing.

Malaysian karate have contributed gold in four out of the last five Asian Games outings.

Malaysia claimed three bronze medals when karate made its Asian Games debut in Hiroshima in 1994.

Karate stepped up with two gold medals each in Bangkok (1998), Doha (2002), Guangzhou (2010) and Incheon (2014). In Doha in 2006, Malaysia won four silvers and three bronzes.