After Hanoi glitter, hopes for Taekwondo to be reinstated as core sport

KUALA LUMPUR: Taekwondo Malaysia (TM) hopes the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) will reinstate taekwondo as a core sport in the country after it was removed from the list in 2017, following the national squad’s excellent outing in Hanoi recently.

TM president Azizul Annuar Adenan in a statement said that the association should be given an opportunity to discuss the matter with the National Sports Council (NSC) and the National Sports Institute (NSI).

“Our taekwondo exponents have shown an outstanding performance in the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Goyang, Korea last May by winning one silver and two bronze, thus creating a new historic milestone for Malaysia in the category of Poomsae.

“At the SEA Games in Hanoi, the country managed to win one gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. According to records, the achievement of the gold medal in Kyorugi Taekwondo is the first gold medal won outside Malaysia in the last 17 years,“ he said in a statement today.

In the meantime, Azizul said the exclusion of taekwondo from the core sports programme announced on Dec 12, 2017, was done without any notice or official letter to TM.

Meanwhile, TM secretary-general R. Dhanaraj said the decision to drop taekwondo from the core sports status had an impact not only on athletes but also on coaches whose contracts had been terminated with immediate effect at the time.

Dhanaraj, who is also the national taekwondo head coach, said facilities besides that of the NSC and NSI were also restricted following the relegation.

“Moreover, youth athletes development programmes at the national and state levels are not being implemented at this time.

“This not only jeopardises the development of junior exponents, but also breaks the spirit of athletes and coaches and burdens TM to seek private sponsorship for the pursuit of winning the first Olympic gold medal through taekwondo,” he said. – Bernama