KUALA LUMPUR: S. Prem Kumar redeemed himself by winning a gold medal at the Southeast Asian karate championships (SEAKF) in Bangkok yesterday.
Prem, who fell short at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, beat Cambodia's Steves Yuthana Tep 6-1 in the below 50kg category final to claim the gold.
Prem, 30, beat Vietnam's Truong Nam Tien 15-7 in the second round and Thailand's Audomsap Saraphong 6-1 in the semi-finals.
Prem said winning a gold at the SEAKF is a good sign for his challenge at the Asian Championships in Hangzhou in September.
"The win proved that we are still competitive. We have identified some areas that we need to improve on.
"We are not lacking much, we just need to brush up a bit."
Malaysia's kumite exponents H.Sureeya Sankar and S. Geerijaieswaran also captured gold at the SEAKF.
Sureeya edged Thai Worakan Soda 4-3 in the below 60kg final while Geerijaieswaran outclassed Vietnam's Dang Hong Son 9-1 in the below 67kg.
The trio of Prem, Sureeya and Geerijaieswaran overcame Vietnam 3-1 and Thailand 9-1 for the team gold.
Youngster Mazlan Mukhriz delivered the fifth gold for Malaysia in the boys' cadet individual kata.
However, Asian Games champion Arif Afifuddin could only settle for silver after losing 10-2 to Vietnam's Nguyen Tranh Truong in the final.
Asian Games silver medallist Lovely Anne Robberth lost to eventual champion Alforte Sakura of the Philippines in the women's kata semi-finals, and also to Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Phuong in the repechage for bronze.
P. Madhuri was the only Malaysian woman to reach a kumite final but she went down 8-4 to Vietnam's Tran Thi Quynh in the below 55kg. Sea Games champion C. Shahmalarani had to settle for bronze in the below 50kg.
Malaysia placed fifth overall in the medal table with 5-7-9, behind Philippines (6-1-16), Indonesia (10-8-13), Thailand (13-16-31) and Vietnam (21-21-32).