Triumphant but young karatekas have much more to learn

PETALING JAYA: Fresh from their impressive outing in Bangkok, the national junior karate team will get a chance to prove themselves again at the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Under-21 Championship.

The national karatekas returned from the South-East Asian Karate Championship (Seakaf) last week with nine golds, eight silvers and 16 bronze medals.

The Malaysia Karate Federation (Makaf) will be sending 10 kata and 28 kumite exponents to participate in the three-day tournament in Kota Kinabalu which starts on Friday.

Team manager Wrickrama Suriya said the learning curve for the young athletes will continue in Kota Kinabalu.

“Our main focus is to prepare them for the Philippines SEA Games in November. We are now in the midst of exposing them to a higher level of competition,” said Wrickrama.

“I have told them to be independent, to find out the strength and weaknesses of their opponents before taking them on. This will be a good experience for them.”

The national team, under the guidance of new Iranian coach Ali Reza Souleymani, will be spearheaded by upcoming kumite exponents in P. Madhuri, A. Somanroy and S. Premkumar.

Wrickrama said Makaf have not set any target as the exponents are still adapting to the new coach’s methods.

“Some of them are also not well since returning from Bangkok. Somanroy is down with fever,” he added.

“We also have a new coach so it will take some time for the exponents to understand what he wants. Once everything settles down, the results will come.”