Asian Games: Team out to bury Doha ghost

A DECENT outing at the just-concluded World Karate Championships gives the national karate squad the confidence to ensure the disappointment of Doha 2006 will not be repeated in Guangzhou this time.
The sport had been consistently delivering results at the Asian Games with two gold medals each in 1998 and 2002 but came away with four frustrating silver medals from Doha.

National coach P. Arivalagan said the world meet was the perfect build up to the Asian Games, where the Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) has set a one-gold target for the eight-strong squad.

"I'm quite happy with the performances and we are all geared up for the Asian Games. We lost at the World Championships not because we are inferior, but because we were unnecessarily penalised at times," said Arivalagan last Wednesday after the exponents returned from Belgrade, Serbia.
R. Puvaneswaran is Malaysia's best bet for gold in Guangzhou in the men's below-55kg event and it would mark a fairy tale end for the veteran fighter.

"Puva made the quarter-finals in Belgrade and after eight attempts at the World Championships, it was his best performance yet.

"He also lost in the bronze repechage in 2002 but he is in good form for the Asian Games," said Arivalagan of the 37-year-old exponent who won gold at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

The women's trio of G. Yamini, G. Vathana and Jamaliah Jamaluddin are also capable of winning gold, if decisions do not go against them.

"Yamini was one of those who was penalised in her bout at the worlds. Sometimes the referees can be one-sided but that has nothing to do with the ability of our fighters," said Arivalagan.

If there is one disappointment, it is the performance of Lim Yoke Wai who is struggling to recapture his form after a long-injury battle.

Yoke Wai, a World Championship semi-finalist in 2006, lost in his opening bout in Belgrade to a Qatari opponent and risks ceding his spot in the Asian Games squad to Shaharudin Jamaluddin.

But Arivalagan declined to pre-empt any decisions pending consultation with the Makaf technical committee, nor would he want to give a leg up to Malaysia's rivals.

"The decision on making changes, if any, rests with Makaf's technical committee," said Arivalagan.

Read more: NST