Miri PPDK team wins taerobic event in Selangor

KUCHING (Sept 14): A six-member team from Community Rehabilitation Centre (PPDK) Sunflower, Miri did Sarawak proud when they won the Taerobic (combination of poomsae, breaking and speed kick) event at the Datuk Dr T Arasu Cup and Para Taekwondo Championships held at the KSL Esplanade Mall in Selangor on Sept 6-8.

The team comprising Adrian Siaw Ding Zheng, Evelyn Chang Xin Yi, Ting Kee Seng, Nirmala Agai, Aiman Abdullah Mohammad and Richie Rugai Jadam, led by Sarawak OKU Skills Development Association (SOSDA) Para Taekwondo Club (SPTC) president Dunstan Lim, put up a performance in front of taekwondo grandmasters from South Korea and Malaysia.

The support granted by Malaysia Kukkiwon Taekwondo Association (MKTA), World Para Taekwondo Federation (WPTF), Kelab Taekwondo Aelma, Korea Taekwondo Association (Malaysia) KTAM, grandmasters and guests made it an all-inclusive event.

The three-day competition and activities included a two-day referee course of Poomsae and Kyorugi, conducted by South Korean grandmasters drilling on the basics.

Lim said it was a wonderful experience for the seven para exponents who flew all the way from Sarawak.

SPTC is the first establishment in Malaysia that advocates and promotes para taekwondo to Sarawak and Malaysia, he added.

He also lamented the missed chance to perform an opening act in the Para Sukma XXI due to miscommunication.

Lim is also the first person with disabilities in Malaysia to be awarded a Kukkiwon Black belt 1st Dan which was presented to him by the South Korean grandmaster Lee Sang Heon who is president of World Para Taekwondo Federation.

He is also SOSDA chairman, which focuses on skills development, employment and business opportunities. It is geared towards collaboration with various agencies for the benefit of the various disabled groups.

Also present at the closing of the Datuk Dr T Arasu Cup and Para Taekwondo Championships were MKTA president Datuk Dr Thangaveloo Arasu, Kelab Taekwondo Aelma grandmaster Nagarajan Visuanathan and KTAM grandmaster Kim Tea Ho.