NATIONAL taekwondo exponents Elaine Teoh and Ryan Chong hope to shine on the international stage after the Malaysian Taekwondo Association were given a new lease on life.
Elaine and Ryan fought their way to the gold medal in their respective flyweight categories at the Selangor International Championships at the Stadium Malawati in Shah Alam yesterday as if reinvigorated by MTA’s revival.
"I hope this is the end of their problems and that everything goes on smoothly from now. It hurts to miss the Asian Games last year because of MTA’s de-registration," said Elaine after defeating Selangor’s Nurul Asfahlina Mohd Johari in the final.
Elaine, 26, who won gold in the Hong Kong Open and silver in the Vietnam Open this year, is focused on getting through the Olympic qualifiers in Manchester later this year.
"Qualifying for the Beijing Olympics is my biggest goal this year but I would also like to regain the Sea Games gold I lost in Manila (in 2005)," said Elaine, who won Sea Games gold in 1999 in Brunei and 2001 in Kuala Lumpur.
Ryan, recently promoted to the senior national team from the juniors, is also bent on qualifying for the Olympics and Sea Games but will have to see off the challenge of his senior Rusfredy Tokan Petrus.
"Rusfredy and I both compete in the flyweight but I will train hard so that I can get a chance to compete in the qualifiers and the Sea Games," said Ryan, 19, who won silver in the Hong Kong Open.
Ryan recovered from an early deficit in the three-round final bout to beat Australia’s Taner Hikmet while two other national exponents - Mohd Afifudin Omar Sidek (men’s bantamweight) and Nurul Nadia Mahamat (women’s featherweight) - also won gold.
Malaysian Taekwondo Federation’s A. Logaraj won the men’s finweight title while Cemerlang’s Chen Hon Way dominated the first two rounds to cruise to a 5-0 win over Sri Lanka’s R.B.A.Bandara in the men’s lightweigh final.
Exponents from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Malaysian national team, and Selangor and local taekwondo clubs took part in the two-day meet which also saw action in the 10-13 and 14-17 age group categories.
Cemerlang Taekwondo Martial Arts (six), Gemilang Taekwondo Clun (five), Bangsar Taekwondo and Fitness Club (four) and Koryosa Taekwondo Club (four) were the big winners in the junior categories.
RESULTS - Open Men’s Fin: 1 A. Logaraj (MTF); 2 Muhd Haziq Hazwan Yusof (Cemerlang); 3 Fitri Yulianto (Ina), Wong Chi Hang (HK); Fly: 1 Ryan Chong (NSC); 2 Taner Hikmet (Aus); 3 Dana Kristianda (Ina), Sampath Alahakoon (SL); Bantam: 1 Mohd Afifudin (NSC); 2 Gerry Rangga Vega (Ina); 3 Chen Hon Kit (Cemerlang), Yap Woei Jiun (Sel); Feather: 1 Yeung Tsz Wing (HK); 2 Jeremy Attard (Aus); 3 SAD Dilruk (SL), Kieran Omeara (Aus); Light: 1 Chen Hon Way (Cemerlang); 2 RBA Bandara (SL); 3 Tham Yip Hon (MTF), Nizam Iskar (Gemilang); Welter: 1 Yap Juhn Yhee (TL); 2 Nicholas Nathan (Sel); 3 RMPR Rajapakse (SL); Tan Soon Keat (MTF); Middle: 1 GG Kumara (SL); 2 Samsan Kumara (SL); Cheong Yuen Wai (MTF), Friekey Jinlis (Gemilang); Heavy: 1 Lee Kee Tat (TL); 2 Kho Chin Han (MTF); P. Ganapathy Rao (Speed), Ravinder Singh (Cemerlang).
Women’s Fin: 1 Astrid Rizky Amelia (Ina); 2 Chen Mei Fung (Ina); 3 Nilanthi Kumari (SL), Niluka Kanthi (SL); Fly: 1 Elaine Teoh (NSC); 2 Nurul Asfahlina Johari (Sel); 3 Nurina Mustika Sundoro (Ina), Kam Bao Juan (Win Long); Bantam: 1 Jessica Jordan (Aus); 2 Denise Kok Mei Suet (Sel); 3 Agatha Lena Rivaldi (Ina), Sharifah Mariam Alawiyah (Sel); Feather: 1 Nurul Nadia Mahamat (NSC); 2 PMAG Sandamali (SL); 3 Crystal Naimith (Aus), Kristy Compton (Aus); Light: 1 Nur Aine Abu Bakar (Sel), 2 Kayla Chow (Can); 3 Fitriani Mansur (Ina), Brandi Strefel (Can); Welter: 1 Siti Rahmah Nasir (Gemilang); 2 Hue Seow Ching (MTF); Middle: 1 Emilia Shafinaz Faizal (NS Academy); 2 Shilpa Shimoga Gangadar (Ind); 3 Meilan Simamofa (Ina); Heavy: 1 Tiana Sylvia Collins (Can); 2 Nadea Deliza Soplantia (Ina); 3 Zatil Akmal (Viva), R. Vikneswary (Sel).
Source: Http://www.nst.com.my
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