Saturday April 16, 2005
PETALING JAYA: Taekwondo exponent Elaine Teo's hopes of becoming the first Malaysian woman to win a World Championships medal ended when she bowed out to Thailand's Yaowapa Boorapolchai in the third round of the competition in Madrid on Thursday.
Elaine, who was seen as Malaysia's best bet for a medal, lost 1-4 to the Olympics bronze medallist in the flyweight (Under-51kg) division and the defeat ended her hopes of advancing further in the knock-out competition.
Elaine, the 2004 National Sportswoman of the Year, had notched a 5-3 win over Irina Deregach of Uzbekistan in her opening round and was later handed victory in the next round after her Kenyan opponent was disqualified for an illegal kick.
The defeat is certainly a blow to her confidence, especially during a SEA-Games year.
Elaine is a two-time SEA Games champion but only managed a bronze at the last Games in Vietnam due to a shin injury.
She will surely be aiming to regain the gold medal in the November Games in Manila.
However, her Thai exponent also failed to advance further when she lost to Spain's 2003 world champion Brigitte Yague in the quarter-finals.
Two other Malaysians who saw action on the second day of competition in the world meet also failed to make it into the medal rounds.
2001 SEA Games gold medallist Che Chew Chan was outclassed 3-8 by Sweden's Karolina Kedzierska in the second round of the women's middleweight (Under-72kg) division. Chew Chan had received a first round bye earlier.
Malaysia's Rusfredy Petrus, competing in the men's flyweight (Under-58kg) was a third round casualty, losing 2-7 to Iran's Khadodad Behrad.
Petrus, whose elder brother died of malaria while representing the country in a competition in Vietnam in 1997, had secured a first round bye and went on to edge a Brazilian exponent 7-6.
National coach R. Dhanaraj, in a telephone interview from Madrid yesterday, said Elaine did not have the luck of the draw.
“She was drawn against two Olympic medallists in her half.
“I hope Elaine does not take the defeat too hard and continue working towards the SEA Games.
“Rusfredy was also unlucky to lost to the Iranian, who eventually went on to win the silver medal (after losing 7-8 to South Korean Seok Hwa-ko).”
Malaysian challenge now remains in the hands of Noornadia Norrizan and R. Surendran (bantamweight), who are both competing today.
The 18-year-old Noornadia, who won the gold in the South-east Asian championships in Jakarta last December, will make her World Championships debut in the bantamweight division (Under-55kg).
Surendran is competing in the men's bantamweight division (Under-62kg) but he is not expected to make headway in a field of 79 participants.
Source from http://www.thestar.com.my
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