THE Penang kumite team is placing modest hopes on its nine-member team for the upcoming Sukma (Malaysia Games) in Sarawak, according to its coach Nicole Lee Phei Sze.
Lee said the team has set a target of one gold in the biennial Games starting from Aug 17 to 24. This target comes despite Penang’s previous success at the last Games in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, where the team secured one gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
“We had some karate exponents from KL in the Penang team for the last Sukma. But this time, we have selected karatekas exclusively from Penang, and all of them, except one, are fresh faces. I want them to give their best after all the hard work they have put into training,” Lee said.
Penang’s hopes will largely rest on team captain Keevan Raj Kalidhass, who competed in the last Sukma. He will be participating in the men’s individual kumite below 75kg.
The other team members are: Women Individual Kumite – Jananny N. Murugaya (-50kg), Yeap Ee Tze (-61kg), Narmathaa Selvakumaran (Above +68kg); Men’s Individual Kumite – Muhammad Danish Hakim Hasbi Lim (-55kg), Vincent Yee Wei Han (-60kg), Ragavan Ramesh (-67kg), Chew Sun Pan (-84kg) and Scott Ryan Lim Tzee Hoong (+84kg).
The team will be led by Ho Chan Wei (manager), with Lee as the coach and Dhinessh Kumar Marimuthu as her assistant coach.
In June, the Penang team faced a setback at the Milo Open championships in Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur, when several players contracted Covid-19 after their return.
However, after their recovery, they have been undergoing rigorous training for the past few months at the Penang Karate Federation (PKF) centre in Island Glades and the State Sports Council centre in Batu Uban to prepare for Sukma.
According to Lee, 45, the team trains six days a week, with about nine training sessions per week with each session lasting about two hours or more.
Lee, who has a wealth of experience from her time with the national team from 1999 to 2008, is dedicated to imparting her knowledge to her students. Her past senseis include former Asian Games champion Ku Jin Ket and his wife, Lim Lee Lee, and former PKF president Datuk Patrick Lim.
Lee’s notable achievements include winning the Asian Karate Federation (AKF) Championships women’s team kumite gold medal at Genting Highlands in 2001, the team and individual golds at the 2008 Hong Kong Chinese International Cup, individual kumite bronze medal in the Kobe Osaka International Championship in Scotland, and the team kumite bronze medal in the SEA Games in UniTen, Kuala Lumpur, in 2001.
Assistant coach Dhinessh, a 23-year-old on an internship at Sports Nutritional Academy, won the individual bronze at Sukan ITT. Besides assisting with Sukma athletes, he helps in the development programme besides focusing on the Sukma athletes.
During the workouts, the Penang athletes demonstrated high discipline and commitment, with quite a number travelling from Seberang Perai to participate.
“In training, they have to give 100 per cent, like in real competition. Discipline is crucial to an athlete’s success, along with skills and fitness.
“Mindset is also another key factor. I have seen athletes who perform well in training, but lose confidence during competition. Conversely, I have a girl who may not excel in training but is full of confidence in competition, and she wins because of that.
“Commitment is the most important of all. Any athlete who is not committed to training is not going to win tournaments,” Lee added.
The search for more talent from schools and colleges has led to the growth of the Penang karate kumite team, now numbering over 40 trainees. The youngest is 11-year-old Jackson Lim, a primary student of SK Minden Height, while the oldest is 21-year-old Keevan Raj.
Lee expressed her gratitude to the Penang State Sports Council director Harry Chai Heng Hua, sports consultant and nutritionist Loo Lean Hiong, and Penang Karate Federation president Shihan David for their invaluable support.
The Penang team takes pride in having produced several players who have represented Malaysia, including Muhammad Arif Afifuddin Ab Malik, a gold medalist (individual kumite below 84kg) in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in 2023.
Arif, who won a silver medal in the individual kumite from the last Sukma, went on to capture national attention with his success in Hangzhou. He has been training with the national team since 16 years old.
He recently visited the Penang kumite team on his return, inspiring the team ahead of Sarawak Sukma.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by K.H. Ong and courtesy of Nicole Lee