Sports

Tuesday January 25, 2011

Muralitharan: Don’t tinker with a winning coach


PETALING JAYA: The first Malaysian karate exponent to strike Asiad gold in Bangkok in 1998, C. Muralitharan, has been out of the sport but he still follows closely what is happening.

And Muralitharan, who retired in 2000, is saddened with what is transpiring in the Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf).

The double SEA Games gold medallist hopes that Makaf will not tinker with a successful coach like P. Arivalagan and gamble on an unknown foreigner to take Ma­­laysian karate to a higher level.

“I am very sad over what is happening to Makaf who have decided that my former sensei is not good any more to handle the senior squad,” he said. “It is a major surprise that they want to remove him when Malaysia continue to maintain suc­­cess in international competitions.

“No one can become a national champion in one year but our master did everything to help us come up from nowhere and go on to win in the SEA Games.

“I did not even know karate when I first joined his dojo (class) in Jalan Ipoh. But we learnt and absorbed fast because we had several Asian medallists among us in training.

“Together with R. Muniandy, we decided to dedicate the gold medals to him when we won in the 1998 Bangkok Asiad even though we had an Iranian coach at that time.

“The skills and techniques we knew were all taught to us by Arivalagan as the foreign coach only came in three months before that and emphasised on fitness training.

“I hope Makaf will open their eyes and not try to change something that is working right as it may prove costly to Malaysia in the SEA Games and Asiad.

“I feel that the exponents are already there and can be prepared to win at the world championships with the right strategies.

“If I had not retired early to focus on my business career, I believe I would have been able to win at the world championships.”

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