Thomas Tan
Koryo Taekwondo Club emerged overall champions for the third successive year and brought home the Tunku Imran Challenge Trophy when they came out on top at 14th Nestle Koko Krunch Junior (Under-12) Taekwondo Championship 2019 grand finals held at Stadium Juara, Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur on July 6, 2019.
Koryo Taekwondo Club clinched the trophy with seven gold, nine silver and 25 bronze medals while Smart Sathia finished in second place with six gold, one silver and three bronze medals.
Koryo Taekwondo Club were the champs in 2017 and repeated the feat last year.
This year the competition featured 19 clubs with a total of 1,783 participants from Malaysia and Singapore. This comprised 115 participants from the Central region, 86 from Southern region, 96 from Northern region, 54 from East Coast region and three from Singapore.
Participants consisted of 175 girls and 176 boys, with 169 exponents aged 7 to 9 years old and 185 exponents aged 10 to 12 years old.
The Best Performance for boys ages 10-12 was won by Amsyar Hadi Ahmad Yazid from Smart Sathia, while Vanessa Laveenia Axton from Koryo was named the Best Performance for girls.
The winners for the ages 7-9 category Best Performance award were Eshan Jay Rubendran from Jagoh Taekwondo for boys and Nur Adreanna Maryssa from SARA for girls.
National Sports Council deputy director Suhardi Alias officiated the medal presentation and the closing ceremony.
He said early exposure was important for the development of young athletes and the championship provided opportunities that were aligned with the objectives of the Malaysian Government to open doors for national athletes to achieve excellence internationally.
“Sports can help to unite families and nations. We can see how successes of our athletes at international level are celebrated by Malaysians. With strong support and structured programmes at the grassroots level, I am confident that Malaysia will continue to develop top-quality athletes who will make our nation proud,” he said.
Cereal Partners Asean business executive officer Laurent Therond said the Nestlé KOKO KRUNCH Junior Taekwondo Championship was first launched in 2006 with the support of Taekwondo Malaysia (WTF) and provided a platform to develop young talents at the grassroots level by giving them a first taste of competitive taekwondo.
“This championship is aligned with Nestle’s commitment to encourage more active lifestyles amongst Malaysians. Nestle Malaysia is fully supportive of the nation’s positive development and will continue our efforts to nurture a healthier nation, especially at the grassroots level,” he said.
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