Janardhan keeps the Ponniyah tradition going
PETALING JAYA: Sporting excellence runs deep in the Ponniyah family.
Eighteen years after P. Thiagu called it a day, following a successful outing in the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei, his son Janardhan Thiagu is carrying on the family tradition of producing winners in karate.
The 14-year-old fought his way to a bronze in the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, yesterday.
Janardhan made it would a memorable Asian meet debut by beating Thailand’s Pithak Nethinai 8-3 in the repechage for the bronze medal in the boys’ cadet (Under-15) below 63kg kumite event.
Janardhan won two bouts earlier but his bid to reach the final was halted after a 9-1 loss to eventual gold medallist Davoudiiman Erfan of Iran.
Thiagu, who is in Astana as a referee, was happy to see his son contribute a medal for the country for the first time.
“I introduced him to karate when he was only five. He was identified as a medal prospect for this Asian meet after winning his first national junior
I’m hoping to make it to the team for the World Junior Championships in Spain in October.
Janardhan Thiagu
title this year.
“I am happy he got a medal, but he is still very green in terms of international exposure. I hope he does not become contented,” said Thiagu, the youngest of the three Ponniyah siblings who graced the sport of karate in the country.
Thiagu, P. Thennavan and P. Arivalagan, have contributed a total of 12 gold medals in the SEA Games in the last 10 years.
“I’m hoping to make it to the team for the World Junior Championships in Spain (Santa Cruz De Tenerife) in October after this,” said the Kuala Lumpur-born Janardhan who, interestingly, trains under former national coach Arivalagan.
Malaysia also bagged two silvers and two bronzes in Astana.
Ooi San Hong settled for silver after losing 5-0 to Japan's Funada Aoi in the boys’ junior (Under-17) kata individual. The other silver came from P. Barath, who lost 7-1 to Iran’s Basiri Kamran in the boys’ cadet above 70kg final.
The two bronze medals were won by KL SEA Games-bound rookie Cherlene Cheung in the girls’ junior kata individual and Hari Sankar in the boys’ cadet below 52kg.
The senior categories start today, but some Malaysian exponents’ medal chances have dimmed following the unkind draw.
Incheon Asian Games men’s kata gold medallist Lim Chee Wei and men’s kumite below 60kg R. Govinash both have reigning world champions standing in their path to the final.
Chee Wei will have to beat 2016 kata individual world champion Kiyuna Ryo for a place in the last four while Govinash faces Iran’s reigning world champion Amir Mehdizadeh in the second round.
Chee Wei, Hoe Thomson and Emmanuel Leong also have reigning world champions Japan in their way in the last eight of men’s kata team.