KUALA LUMPUR: National karate team (kumite) coach R. Sharmendran believes that the Southeast Asian Karate Federation (SEAKF) championships in Brunei in April next year will be a good stage to gauge their progress.
Four-time Sea Games gold medallist Sharmendran was appointed as interim coach by the Malaysian Karate Federation after the position became vacant following Egyptian Tamer Abdelraouf Mohamed Mourssy's departure.
Sharmendran, 32, who trained under several local and foreign coaches for 12 years, said he expects improvement from his charges.
"This is a new chapter in my life in the sport that I'm very passionate about and I aim to do my best and bring positive results to our athletes," said Sharmendran.
"I remember our former coach, Andris (Vasiljevs), telling us that Malaysia can become world class. I was puzzled at that time but managed to have our karatekas being world No.1 and we won medals from Asean to Asia level.
"Now as a coach, my role is to help our athletes raise their levels.
"I'm the type of coach who demands improvement in every session of training and this doesn't mean that a long term goal is not important. I believe in small improvements accumulating in major results. So I want the athletes to continuously improve and the SEAKF will be the right stage to check our progress."
Sharmendran said veterans L. Kunasilan and Senthil Kumaran will be a big help. "We have master Kuna and Senthil coaching the team as well and they are very experienced. On top of that we also have senior athletes in S. Prem Kumar and C. Shamalarani.
"We definitely have the quality and the athletes just need some polishing here and there.
"As I said, the SEAKF will be the stage for us to see their progress, and after that we can do corrections as we head for the other competitions including the Thailand Sea Games at the end of the year."