World Youth Muay Thai Championship: Deirdra Jacquelina Aims for Gold Medal

white and blue pencils

By Michelle Liew

Day three of the World Youth Muay Thai Championship saw two of the country’s young athletes progress to the semi-finals.

Out of the two, Deirdra Jacquelina Richard easily defeated the representative from the International Muay Thai Federation (IFMA), Balqis Al Tisya, in the category of 14 to 15 years under 45kg yesterday.

For Deirdra, she had always wanted to achieve something big when she first took the national challenge on the world youth stage.

I am proud and happy to be in the semi-finals, I hope to qualify for the finals as well. So far my condition is good. I hope to win gold in my first participation to make my parents and Malaysia proud,” she said.

Another young national champion, Muhammad Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, also followed in the footsteps of his compatriot when he knocked out his opponent from Germany, Melik Babayev, in the second round.

Johan’s quick and precise movements in addition to his experience on the international stage clearly gave him an advantage.

We have been preparing for a year because I lost before, so this is considered a revenge mission. It’s been five years since I participated in this tournament, this time I hope to win gold, Insya-Allah,” said the 2019 Asian Championship champion.

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Source: Awani