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Friday October 16, 2009

Karate: Puva takes on coach’s challenge to win gold in Laos

By RAJES PAUL

KUALA LUMPUR: Karate exponent R. Puvaneswaran is determined to bow out of the national team as a champion.

And for this reason, the seasoned campaigner will take up the gauntlet thrown at him by coach P. Arivalagan to win the gold medal in the Laos SEA Games in December.

Arivalagan served an ultimatum to Puvaneswaran last week to shape up or ship out of the national team following a below par performance in the Asian Championships in Foshan, China, where the exponent failed to defend the below 55kg category title.

Arivalagan wants his veteran fighter to redeem himself in the SEA Games to earn the ticket to compete in the Guangzhou Asian Games next year.

Tasting the goodies: Rohitt (from left), Jayalalitha, Lohanathan, Puvaneswaran with Geervan on his lap, Pushparani, Jeyan and Shrivars at their home yesterday. — DARRAN TAN / The Star

After serving the country with passion and dedication for 16 long years, Puvaneswaran is set to keep his good record intact.

“I am not taking the coach’s challenge lying down. I am ready to prove my worth by winning a fifth SEA Games gold medal in Laos. It is a do-or-die mission for me,” said the 35-year-old.

“After having served the nation for so long, I am not prepared to end my karate career on a bad note. When I leave the national squad, I want to be remembered as an exponent who had done very well.”

Puvaneswaran has competed in every SEA Games since 1993 in Singapore except for the 1995 edition in Chiang Mai when karate was not in the programme. He was the gold medallist in 1999 (Brunei), 2001 (Kuala Lumpur), 2005 (Manila) and 2007 (Korat).

Puvaneswaran added that he wanted a last shot at winning the Asian Games gold medal again.

“My definite plan is to quit the sport for good after the Asian Games next year. I believe that I still have it in me to challenge for the gold medal,” said the 2002 Busan Asiad champion.

“I am not getting any younger but I am determined to push myself harder for the next one year to achieve my goal.”

Meanwhile, for the Deepavali celebration, Puvanesawaran took a shortbreak from his hectic training schedule to spend time with his wife, Jayalalitha, and three sons - Shrivars (five years old), Rohitt (two) and Geervan (six months old), together with his family in-laws - Lohanathan, Pushparani and Jeyan at his home in Puncak Jalil.

For Puvaneswaran, the family support has been crucial in his career in karate. In fact, he hopes that one day, his sons would make it big in the sport.

His eldest son Shrivars holds a green belt and showed that he is set to emulate his father’s footsteps one day.

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