PHNOM PENH, May 8 — “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
It looks like experienced national karate exponent S. Prem Kumar learnt that the hard way as the national men’s kumite team failed to defend their gold medal after falling to a slim 3-2 defeat by Vietnam in the final of the 2023 SEA Games at the Chroy Changvar Convention Centre, here, today.
Malaysia were supposed to return home with the gold medal in this event but mistakes by several national exponents and Prem Kumar in the last bout resulted in them having to settle for silver.
Prem Kumar, excited about winning a point, let his guard down and, with several seconds to go before the bout ended, his Vietnamese rival seized the opportunity to deliver the winning point.
As Vietnam rejoiced, Prem Kumar was in tatters.
National kumite coach Tamer Abdelraouf Mourssy hopes the national exponents have learned from that mistake and not let it happen again.
“I have told them never to celebrate until the bout is over. They should have stayed focused and not celebrate too early...” the coach from Egypt told reporters.
However, he was satisfied with the squad’s achievement of bagging four gold medals to exceed the three-gold target set for biennial Games.
Hosts Cambodia and Indonesia shared the bronze medal in the men’s kumite team event.
Meanwhile, Malaysia had to be satisfied with sharing the bronze medal with Indonesia in the women’s kumite team event after losing to the Philippines in the semi-finals.
Vietnam took home the gold medal after defeating the Philippines in the final.
The four gold medals Malaysia won in karate, which ended today, were delivered by C. Shahmalarani (women’s under-50kg); Prem Kumar (men’s kumite under-55kg); H Sureeya Sankar (men’s kumite under-60kg); and R. Sharmendran (men’s kumite under-75kg). — Bernama
