HANGZHOU, Oct 6 — The national women’s kata exponents can hold their heads high after delivering silver in the team event in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games at the Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium today.
In the title showdown, the national trio of Lovelly Anne Robberth, Niathalia Sherawinnie Anak Yampil, and Naccy Nelly Evvaferra Rojin, who were loudly cheered by the home crowd, collected 39.00 points.
However, Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Phuong, Nguyen Ngoc Tram, and Luu Thi Thu Uyen oozed class and clinched gold with 42.70 points.
The Vietnamese trio had also bagged silver in the 2023 Asian Karate Championships in Melaka in July and gold in the Cambodia SEA Games in May.
Although she could not help the team strike gold, Lovelly Anne was still happy as she managed to add to the silver medal she won in the individual kata event yesterday.
The 19-year-old exponent, from Penampang, Sabah, said their silver medal feat was proof that they have the potential to reach greater heights since they had only trained for about a year before competing in the Asiad here.
Meanwhile, Naccy Nelly described their performance as their best since they were teamed up.
“We showcased the movements and techniques that we had practised all along, just like how we did during our training sessions, and our performance today was way different as we wanted to perform something extraordinary. So, our performance just now was a little different from Vietnam’s.
“We are a little disappointed because this is the first time we have come up against them… but what is important is that we gave it our everything,” she said.
Brunei and Cambodia shared the bronze medal after both teams lost in the semi-finals.
For the record, this is the first time the women’s kata team event has been contested in the Asiad.
— Bernama
