Yit Min bags a surprise gold in taekwondo

IT'S MINE! Lim Yit Min shows off his gold medal and certificate after winning the men's flyweight final against Vietnam's Nguyen Quoc Huan in the taekwondo competition Friday.

LIM Yit Min saved Malaysian taekwondo the blushes when he picked up the sole gold medal for the team on the final day of competition at the Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City yesterday. 

But it was achieved amid controversy with the judges having to stop the men’s flyweight (54-58kg) final bout twice in the final round over the awarding of points. Yit Min eventually defeated Nguyen Quoc Huan of Vietnam 7-6. 

Yit Min led 1-0 in the opening round but the score was tied at 4-4 at the end of the second round. The drama unfolded in the third and final round. Quoc Huan, backed by the home supporters, overtook the Malaysian for the first at 6-5 and he appeared to be on his way to picking up the gold. 

There were only seconds left on the clock when Yit Min landed a kick on the Vietnamese’s face to make it 7-6. There was a protest as the judges were trying to establish whether there was an illegal manoeuvre. 

A Malaysian official rushed towards the jury table and protested.  

And when the final decision was made, an elated Yit Min went flat on the floor – in sheer relief that he had won a gold medal for Malaysia. 

Yit Min then picked himself up and hoisted the Jalur Gemilang to make a lap of honour. 

En route to the final, Yit Min defeated Egidio Maia of Timor Leste, Win Tun Kyaw of Myanmar and U. Sutthikunkarn of Thailand. 

The other Malaysian exponent in action yesterday was Muhaini Abdul Latif in the women’s 47kg competition and she was beaten by W. Phuangphee of Thailand in the opening bout. 

The Malaysians had a bad start to the competition and drew a blank on the opening day of a three-day competition. 

On Thursday, Malaysia won three silver medals – through Lee Pei Fern (welterweight, 63-67kg), Che Chew Chan (middleweight, 67-72kg) and Lee Wan Yuen (heavyweight, over 72kg). 

Malaysia also picked up two bronzes through Elaine Teo (bantamweight, 51-55kg) and Wong Kai Meng (welterweight, 72-78kg).