THE 12th day of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games (Asiad) today saw the Malaysian contingent finally hitting their 27-medal target, with a silver contributed by kata exponent Lovelly Anne Robberth.

In the final of the women’s individual kata final at the Linping Sports Centre Gymnasium, the 19-year-old from Penampang, Sabah, settled for silver after garnering only 39.8 points against Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu, who clinched gold with 42.6 points.

It was Shimizu’s third consecutive gold in the event, having won it in 2014 and 2018.

The 29-year-old Shimizu took silver in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Asiad bronze was jointly won by Sakura Alforte of the Philippines and Grace Lau from Hong Kong.

Lovelly Anne’s achievement today allowed her to match the silver medal won by Lim Lee Lee in the 2002 Asiad in Busan, South Korea.

The medal ended Malaysia’s 13-year wait for an Asiad podium finish in the kata event since Lee Lee’s bronze in the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China. – Bernama, October 5, 2023.