KUALA LUMPUR: National taekwondo poomsae coaches are working on developing new talent following the retirement of Nurul Hidayah Abdul Karim.
Injuries have forced the 25-year-old 'poomsae queen' to quit the sport. Her last international outing was the Hangzhou Asia Games in September where she suffered a heartbreaking exit in the quarter-final.
Hidayah won the mixed pair gold medal with Jason Loo in the 2023 Phnom Penh Sea Games and the silver medal in the Under-30 mixed pair event at the 2022 Goyang World Taekwondo Poomsae Championship.
National poomsae coach Yap Yih Ting said they respect Hidayah's decision, and they faced a similar situation with 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist Sara Yap who also had to retire due to injuries.
He said they had identified several promising exponents and they will be exposed to international competitions, including the Canada Open in February, Asian Championship in May 21-22 and Asian Open G1 in May in Vietnam and the World Championships in Hong Kong in Nov 23-27.
"We thank Hidayah for her contribution to Malaysian taekwondo. Unfortunately injuries have cut her career short. We now have to look for her replacement," said Yih Ting.