Banner depicts the team’s success in the tournament.
KUCHING: Exponents from the Kuching Tang Soo Do Association did Sarawak and Malaysia proud when they bagged four gold and one silver medals in the inaugural ITO Virtual Asian Tang Soo Do Championship from Aug 29 to 30.
The five-medal haul put the team which represented Malaysia in fourth place overall after host team India who swept 34 gold, 17 silver and six bronze medals, Iran (11-9-1), Morocco (8-1-2) and ahead of Bangladesh (1-1-1).
“I am proud and happy with the performance of the four exponents and we were invited to participate in the championship as the sole representative for Malaysia Tang Soo Do Martial Arts.
“The event was jointly hosted by the ITF Tang Soo Do Sports Federation of India and the Intercontinental Tang Soo Do Organisation of the USA, led by grandmaster Dominick Giacobbe (9th Dan Black Belt) who is well known for featuring in the Guinness World Records international TV show,” said Kuching Tang Soo Do Association deputy president Ricky Sim.
According to Ricky, who is also deputy president of the Sarawak Tang Soo Do Association, Kuching Tang Soo Do had fielded four exponents and they each bagged one gold medal, which upheld Malaysia’s reputation in the Tang Soo Do world arena.
Chai Kian Chen bagged the gold in the boys’ senior Kee Mah Hyung Cho Dan while Thomas Chang Ngi Xiong won the gold in the boys’ junior Kee Mah Hyung Cho Dan.
The other two gold medals were delivered by Nur Haziq Haikal Najmie in the boys senior Pyong Ahn Sam Dan and Addlyka Jatek Lai in the girls senior Pyong Ahn Sam Dan.
Thomas Chang also won the silver medal in the boys’ junior Bong Hyung Sam Dan.
The online event was organised by the Asian TSD (ITO) for the first time due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If everything goes smoothly next year, the Asian TSD (ITO) may organise the championship either in India or Iran.
“And we may be sending exponents and officials to the championship,” added Ricky.