M’sian Muay Thai athletes clinch two more gold in IFMA world meet

BANGKOK − The Malaysian Muay Thai squad ended the last day of the 2021 International Federation of Muaythai Associations (IFMA) World Muaythai Championships in style after securing two more gold medals yesterday.

Mohammad Rifdean Masdor and Ahmad Nor Iman Aliff Rakib both won gold medals in their events − bringing the squad’s gold medal haul total to five.

Rifdean, 19, won his gold in the Under-23 Elite 48kg category after defeating Thailand’s 2019 Asian Games gold medallist Naruephon Chittra.

The Kuching-born exponent’s victory made up for his silver in the 2019 World Muaythai Championships, where he lost the finals by a single point.

National Muay Thai squad head coach Bernad Radin was full of praise for his charge’s excellent performance when met by Bernama. 

“Mohammad Rifdean’s performance went as planned. The fight is on our side. I think it is a good fight, good strategy and everything fell (into place at) the right time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nor, 17, won the gold medal after beating his rival David Muradian from the Russian Muay Thai Federation in the 16-17 year-old 51kg youth category event.

In this year’s championships, Malaysia fielded athletes between 10 and 30 years in various categories, including Senior, Under 23 and Youth.

Besides Rifdean and Nor, three other national athletes won gold at the championships − Texas Jeremy Lo (Youth 12-13; 44kg), Ahmad Akid Mohd Nazrul Hisyam (Youth 12-13; 54kg) and Muhammad Mikail Ghazali Zulfikar (Youth 11-13; 32-36kg).

The Malaysian squad also won four silver and eight bronze medals in the Under 23 and Youth categories.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Muaythai Association president Datuk Muhammad Shahnaz Maula Azmi said he was very proud of the national squad’s achievements at the championships.

“We did not have any medal target for this championship as the squad did not compete for almost two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic compared to athletes from other countries, who have joined various tournaments and events.

“We are happy… this is more than (expected). We only wanted to expand the national Muay Thai athletes’ performance after the pandemic with this championship,” he added. – Bernama, December 12, 2021