eMAS for karate champ Adeola as she kicks off Malaysia’s gold hunt

Tears of joy: Adeola Fay Robert posing with coach R. Sharmendran. – NSC

MALAYSIA’S first Asian Games gold, a dream debut and a brand-new car.

National karate exponent Adeola Fay Robert from Sabah could not have asked for a better campaign in Japan.

The 20-year-old delivered Malaysia’s first gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after producing a strong performance to beat Iran’s Fatemehzahra Saeidabadi 6-4 in the women’s kumite below 55kg final at the Toyohashi Gymnasium yesterday.

And her golden effort comes with an extra reward as the Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) will honour their promise of gifting a Proton eMAS vehicle to every karate gold medallist.

Going all the way to the final, let alone winning gold on her Asian Games debut, was something Adeola never expected.

But she stepped onto the mat with only one thing on her mind – to give her best.

“To be honest, I never expected to reach the final. I just wanted to do my best and see what the outcome could be,” said Adeola.

Adeola, who won bronze at the Bangkok SEA Games last December, only started competing for Malaysia two years ago when coach R. Sharmendran saw potential in her to excel internationally.

“I did not expect 2024 to mark the start of my journey with the national team,” said Adeola.

“Coach Sharmendran saw that I had the talent and qualities to compete overseas.”

In the final, Adeola took a 4-0 lead early into the three-minute bout, but Fatemehzahra fought back to reduce the margin.

However, Adeola kept her composure to clinch crucial points which saw her through to her maiden Asiad gold medal.

Women

Kumite below 55kg

Final: Adeola Fay Robert bt Fatemehzahra Saeidabadi (Iri) 6-4.

Semi-finals: Adeola Fay Robert bt Bella Samasheva (Kaz) 5-4.

Quarter-finals: Adeola Fay Robert bt Sevinch Rakhimova (Uzb) 8-7.

Last 16: Adeola Fay Robert bt Asrar Jasem (Kuw) 9-1.