By Nurul Izzati Mansor
MALANG (Indonesia), July 5 (Bernama) -- Taekwondo exponent Muhammad Syafiq Zuber ended Malaysia's 16-year title drought in the kyorugi event when he won the men's under 87 kilogrammes (-87kg) title at the ASEAN University Games (AUG) 2024 here today.
In the final at Gedung Samantha Krida, Universitas Brawijaya, the 24-year-old athlete had no trouble defeating home athlete Tubagus Maulana to secure the gold medal, despite battling a fever for the past few days.
"There was definitely pressure competing today but drawing on experience, I just did my best and followed the coach's instructions even though I was still feverish. I didn't think about being sick; I just focused on defeating the opponent.
"I'm very proud and fortunate to end the 16-year wait (for gold) in kyorugi. What's more important is that we achieved our target," he said when met after the match.
His fellow exponent Fu Ceen Put Thai had to settle for a silver medal after being defeated by Thailand's Mahamad Sarawit 2-1 in the men's -58kg category.
In karate, national athlete C. Shahmalarani failed to defend the women's -50kg category gold she won two years ago in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, settling for bronze.
The 2023 Cambodia SEA Games gold medallist was defeated by Thailand's Chanyanut Chippensuk 8-0 in the semi-finals and went on to beat teammate Yoshanaa Chelvam 8-0 in the bronze medal decider.
-- BERNAMA
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