Women’s kata team upstage Hong Kong for bronze

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia women’s kata team gave the hosts something to cheer on the last day of the Asian Karate Championships by clinching a bronze medal at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) in Ayer Keroh yesterday.

The trio of Lovelly Anne Robberth, Naccy Nelly Evvaferra Rojin dan Niathalia Sherawinnie Yampil, who will be competing in the Asian Games under category B, scored 42.4 points to upstage Hong Kong (41.8) for the bronze medal.

It was the Sabahan trio’s first success at the Asian tournament and also Malaysia’s third bronze in the competition which placed them at the 13th position out of the 32 nations which competed in the continental championships in Melaka.

Japan secured the gold medal after scoring 43.1 to Vietnam’s 41.8 in the gold medal decider.

It was also extra special for Niathalia as the bronze was won on her 19th birthday.

Lovelly said that the medal was a boost after they came close to a podium finish at last year’s edition in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“We are very satisfied to have finally won a medal at the Asian Championships. We missed out on a bronze medal in Uzbekistan but today (yesterday), we performed well and managed to score points to secure the bronze,” said Lovelly.

The trio also won a bronze medal at the Cambodia SEA Games in May and Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) have decided to send them for the Asian Games in Hangzhou under category B.

National kata coach Mohd Norfarhan Nordin also praised his charges for showing marked improvement.

“They have improved a lot and are putting up a mature performance in competitions. We will continue to prepare for the coming international events, including the Asian Games,” said Norfarhan.

In the men’s and women’s team kumite, Malaysia were shown the exit in the preliminary rounds.

Malaysia won two bronze medals earlier in the kumite events through S. Prem Kumar (men’s below 55kg) and Zakiah Adnan (women’s below 61kg).

Prem, Zakiah and several others – Mohd Arif Afifuddin, H. Sankar Sureeya, and R. Sharmendran (men); and C. Shahmalarani, P. Madhuri (women), have been selected for the Asiad under category A.