PETALING JAYA: It was a dream debut for karate exponent Adeola Fay Robert as she delivered Malaysia’s first gold medal in Aichi-Nagoya after beating Iran’s Fatemehzahra Saeidabadi on Tuesday (Sept 22).
The 20-year-old from Sabah achieved a breakthrough performance at the Toyohashi Gymnasium by knocking out the Iranian fighter 6-4 in the women’s kumite under 55kg final.
Adeola had led 4-0 early on in the three-minute bout, but Fatemehzahra fought back to reduce the margin.
However, Adeola, who won bronze at the Bangkok SEA Games last December, maintained her composure to clinch crucial points that gave her the maiden Asiad gold medal.
Adeola had earlier defeated Kazakhstan’s Bella Samasheva 5-4 in the semi-finals.
