After a tense three day competition at the Royal University of Phnom Penh’s Karate Center – which finished on Sunday – hosts Cambodia took their first ever gold medal, with local star Sreang Virak beating his Malaysian counterpart S Gnanasekaran Kathish in the final round of the men’s 84kg individual kumite category. The hosts also claimed a silver and five bronze medals from the regional championship event.
With a total of seven medals meaning they finished fourth of the nine participating countries, it was a result that exceeded expectations. Vice-president of the Cambodian Karate Federation Samedy Sivathna said after the match: “honestly, we never expected one of our athletes to take a gold medal – we predicted that we would only take bronze. In fact, Cambodia have taken a gold and a silver, as well as five bronzes!”
Sivathna, who is also the third vice-president of the South East Asia Karate Federation, said that Cambodia has been praised widely for the way it ran the tournament, widely considered a successful rehearsal ahead of Cambodia hosting next year’s 32nd South East Asia Games.
“Delegates from all Southeast Asian countries praised Cambodia’s hosting arrangements, especially the International Technical Committee, who singled out its well-organised food and transport arrangements for particular gratitude. When we host the 2023 SEA Games, we believe it will run as smoothly as this event, if not better,” he said.
Arivalagan Ponniyah, technical director of the Malaysian national team, paid his respects to the hosts, saying: “We really appreciate the work the karate federation of Cambodia did. The hotel accommodation was superb, as was the food organized. We are all grateful for the warm hospitality we received at this wonderful event.”
He added: “I think Cambodia is prepared for next year’s SEA Games and even though it will be their first time hosting, I expect them to do well. I can see that a lot of preparations are being made and I am very happy to have the opportunity to return again for next year’s games. We especially look forward to visiting more parts of the country – especially Angkor Wat.”
Nine countries participated in the championship.
Vietnam topped the medal table with five gold five silver and three bronze, followed by Indonesia, who took home five gold, three silver and six bronzes.
Malaysia placed third, with five gold, three silver and three bronze, ahead of the hosts who took a historic gold and silver, along with five bronzes.
Thailand was fifth, with three silver and six bronze, ahead of the Philippines, who collected one silver and two bronze.
Laos was the last team to medal, with two bronzes. Singapore and Brunei went home empty handed.
According to phnompenhpost.com
(https://www.phnompenhpost.com/sport/hosts-cambodia-place-shock-4th-southeast-asia-karate-champs)
