INCHEON: Asiad debutant K. Syakila Saini is unfazed by all the attention on the national karate team.
With Malaysia having only three golds so far in their chase to meet the eight-gold target, all eyes are on the karate exponents to deliver when the competition begins at the Gyeyang Gymnasium on Thursday.
And karate has never let the country down, having won two in Guangzhou in 2010 through Ku Jin Keat (kata) and R. Puvanesweran (kumite).
The 22-year-old Syakila is not disconcerted at all although she is one of the exponents tipped to get a gold.
“I’m enjoying myself here. I’ve trained hard and I’m here to do well. That’s what I’m going to do. My objective is to win a medal and I will do my best to get through to the final. Nothing else matters for now,” said Syakila, a member of the national team since 2010.
Syakila, however, will only go into action on Friday.
The 22-year-old, who won two golds at last year’s Myanmar SEA Games, will be taking part in the below 61kg category. She is up against Princess Daine Sicangco of the Philippines in the opening round.
Only two Malaysians - Lim Chee Wei and R. Sharmendran - will go into action on Thursday.
SEA Games champion Chee Wei will carry the burden of trying to retain the gold won by his coach Ku Jin Keat when he competes in the men’s kata individual.
Sharmendran will compete in the men’s kumite below 67kg category. He has a first-round bye and is likely to face a Uzbekistan exponent.
The other Malaysians – R. Senthil Kumar (men’s below 55kg), Nisha Alagasan (women’s below 55kg) and Shree Sharmini Segaran (women’s below 68kg) – will be in action on Friday.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
