SUBJECTIVE JUDGING DASHES MALAYSIA’S MEDAL HOPES IN MIXED POOMSAE

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Bernama) -- The bane of subjective judging in sports reared its ugly head once again as Malaysia’s top taekwondo hopes, Jason Loo Jun Wei and Nur Humaira Abdul Karim, saw their gold medal quest in the mixed recognised pair poomsae event come to a cruel end at the SEA Games Thailand 2025 here today.

The judges awarded victory to the home pair - Chonlakorn Chayawatto-Thana Kiewailerd - on presentation, despite both pairs being tied on 8.460 points in the quarter-finals at the Fashion Island Shopping Mall.

Malaysia lodged a protest, but the judges stood by their decision.

Jason, though, insisted that they executed their routine consistently and as planned.

“Our scores came down to presentation and accuracy, and based on what the team manager told us, we lost by 0.04 points.

“What happened has happened. We’ve done everything we could - our coach, our team manager, everyone tried their best. The result is what it is,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nur Humaira rated their performance highly, giving it a nine out of 10, despite the challenge of adapting to a slightly slippery mat.

She added that they were confident heading into the contest, having beaten the Thai duo at an international meet in Austria in June, but acknowledged the subjective nature of scoring.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli Abd Halim said the national contingent was disappointed with the decision, especially since Jason and Nurul Humaira went into the competition as bronze medallists at the 2024 Poomsae World Championships in Hong Kong.

Adam Adli, who knows that subjective judging is part and parcel of a sport like taekwondo, thanked national taekwondo team manager Datuk Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor for doing his best in protesting against the decision.

National Sports Council (NSC) director-general Jefri Ngadirin described the judges' decision as “unfair”, saying the national pair delivered a solid performance and urging the organisers to improve the quality of judging.

“It’s not that we want all our exponents to win, but any athlete who performs the best should be given the points he or she deserves,” he said.

-- BERNAMA