Makaf appoint Egyptian coach to help exponents bring back Asian gold

27/01/2023 09:34 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) have appointed Egyptian Tamer Adbelraouf Mohamed Mourssy as the new head coach, whose target will be to help Malaysian exponents get to the top of the podium in the Asian Games after a nine-year drought.

Makaf secretary-general Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad said the National Sports Council (NSC) today agreed to appoint the 2008 World Championships silver medallist to guide the national senior and backup kumite squads from Feb 1.

He said the 40-year-old Egyptian coach will replace Makaf coaching director Datuk P. Arivalagan, who has been dropped, while former Asian Games gold medallist R. Puvaneswaran remains as coach of the kumite squad.

Nur Azmi said they had shortlisted three candidates, including two from Iran and Turkiye, but the performance and achievements of Tamer Abdelraouf were deemed suitable to help Malaysian exponents meet the targets of three gold medals at the Cambodia SEA Games from May 5-17 and one gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games from Sept 23-Oct 8.

“We have given opportunities to local coaches but they could not meet our expectations, which is that one coach to unearth at least one good exponent. In addition, he (Tamer Abdelraouf) also has good connections with foreign coaches, (meaning) it will be easier to get better quality sparring partners for our exponents.

“This is crucial since many WKF (World Karate Federation) and AKF (Asian Karate Federation) competitions are held around Europe and West Asia. Local coaches only find it easier to get sparring partners from countries like Thailand and Indonesia,” he said after attending the working committee meeting at the NSC.

This is not the first time that foreign coaches will be guiding the national exponents as Makaf had previously engaged the services of the likes of Latvia’s Andris Vasiljevs and Iran’s Reza Souleymani.

Nur Azmi said that once Tamer Adbelraouf reports for duty, Makaf will select five or six of the best exponents to be based overseas in preparation for the Hangzhou Asiad.

After returning home with two gold medals through  Lim Chee Wei (men’s Kata) and Syakilla Salni Jefry Krisnan (women’s 61kg kumite) from the 2014 Asiad in Incheon, South Korea, the national exponents could only capture a bronze through S. Prem Kumar (men’s 61kg kumite) at the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Nur Azmi confirmed that the Kata squad’s training centre in Penang had been closed and all the coaches and exponents have been offered the chance to relocate to the NSC in Bukit Jalil.

“It’s up to them to accept or not, we have offered them to come here. We want to focus on the Bukit Jalil training centre only,” he said.

-- BERNAMA