Karate exponent H. Sureeya Sankar is ready to battle for glory in the men's Kumite team event after his grand Sea Games debut of winning the below-67kg gold medal in Hanoi on Wednesday.The 20-year-old together with S. Prem Kumar, R. Sharmendran, G. Katish, Arif Affifudin Malik, S. Geerijaieswaran and V. Kueggen will compete in the team event at the Ninh Binh Sports Gymnasium today.
For the record, Malaysia have not won the team title since the 1993 Singapore edition.
Malaysia are the strong favourites as they had won the team title at the Southeast Asian Championships in Cambodia in March.
Sureeya Sankar, a student of Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (UPNM), said his title-winning effort will offer him the motivation to go the distance in the team event.
He defeated Indonesia's Hutapea Tebing in the below-67kg final on Wednesday.
"It is great to win a title in my first Sea Games appearance. It was tough, but I used the right strategies to subdue my opponent," Sureeya Sankar told Timesport yesterday.
"The win is certainly a morale booster, but things will be different in the team event.
"Team events are harder because if you make mistakes the overall score will be affected. In individual events, it is only between you and your opponent.
"Everyone thinks we are the favourites tomorrow as we had won the team title at the Southeast Asian event.
"However, I believe other countries have analysed our strategies from the tournament and will be better prepared to take us on."
In 2017 (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia only won the team bronze, with Vietnam taking the title. The event was dropped from the 2019 Manila edition.