KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia won two bronze medals on the opening day of the Asian Karate Championships at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) in Ayer Keroh on Thursday.
Exponent S. Prem Kumar defended his Kumite Under-55 bronze after losing 14-5 to Iran's Behnam Dehghanzadeh in the semi-finals.
The 29-year-old athlete displayed consistency to march into the semi-finals but failed to keep his momentum in the knockout stage against his world No. 99 exponent.
Prem, for the record, won gold at the Phnom Penh Sea Games in May.
The other bronze was won by 20-year-old Zakiah Adnan in the women's Kumite Under-61kg event,
However, Malaysia's Sree Sharmini Chandran and S. Geerijaieswaran Pillai lost in the early rounds of their respective events.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah launched the event.
Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and Melaka governor Tun Mohd Ali Rustam.