Thevendran delivers Malaysia’s first medal at Asian Games

 The national karate exponent defeated his opponent from Nepal 9-1 to clinch the bronze medal in the men’s under-55kg kumite event.

K Thevendran scored six Yuko and one Ippon to secure the victory over Nepal’s Rakesh Manandhar in the bronze medal tie at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in Japan today. (Majlis Sukan Negara Malaysia Facebook pic)

AICHI:

Malaysia has won its first medal of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with karate exponent K Thevendran clinching bronze in the men’s under-55kg kumite event today.

Thevendran defeated Nepal’s Rakesh Manandhar 9-1 in the bronze medal bout at the Toyohashi Gymnasium, Bernama reported.

Thevendran scored six Yuko and one Ippon to secure the victory, while Rakesh managed only one Yuko.

Yuko is a scoring term for a one-point award for a successful, controlled punch or strike, while Ippon is awarded for a technically flawless and powerful execution of a strike or kick and is worth three points.

“I am very happy to win my first medal for Malaysia, especially since Sureeya won as well. After I won, I wanted to pass on positive energy to him, and seeing his success makes me even happier.

“Initially, my target was gold, but I was unlucky to lose to an Uzbek athlete before bouncing back in the bronze medal playoff,” said Thevendran when met after the bout.

Thevendran’s win spurred the national karate camp to secure Malaysia’s second medal, also a bronze, through H Sureeya Sankar in the under-60kg kumite event.

In that bronze medal bout, Sureeya defeated Chu Van Duc of Vietnam 10-2.

Flying start by Speedy Tigers

Meanwhile, in Nagoya, striker Faizal Saari scored a hattrick to inspire the national men’s hockey team to a flying start in their 7-0 victory over Uzbekistan.

Faizal scored a 15th-minute field goal, a 24th-minute penalty corner goal and a penalty stroke goal in the 43rd minute of their Group B opener, Bernama reported.

Malaysia’s other goals came courtesy of Norsyafiq Sumantri (11th minute, penalty corner); substitute Azimuddin Syakir Kamaruddin (36th minute, penalty corner); Azrai Aizad Abu Kamal (59th minute, field goal); and defender Faiz Helmi Jali (60th minute, field goal).

The Speedy Tigers, coached by South African Brendon Carolan, will take on Oman in their second Group B match on Tuesday.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals.

The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which officially opened yesterday, will conclude on Oct 4. - FMT