Some athletes retire young, some keep fighting for as long as they still can.
The latter can be said for Malaysia’s karate icon, Shaharuddin Jamaluddin, who abandoned karate about four years ago due to a shoulder injury.
Shaharuddin once soared high and mighty on the national karate team, as he raked in medals for Malaysia in various international tournaments. He scored two bronze medals at the 2007 and 2009 SEA Games, and brought home gold from the 2013 SEA Games, amongst others.
However, after his sustaining a shoulder injury, he had to bid farewell to the international arena and take things slow, in order to give himself enough time recover.
At 29, he is now being called back into the national karate squad in their bid to secure as many gold medals as possible in the upcoming 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. The national karate team are aiming to bag at least 16 gold medals in all karate events.
Spurred by his love for the sport, Shaharuddin Jamaluddin agreed.
He will start training as soon as possible to get his momentum back, and hopefully, back to his winning ways soon. As thrilling as that may sound, Shaharuddin Jamaluddin is aware that it will not be an easy task.
“It’s definitely a huge challenge. I have to compete amongst many younger athletes. However, I will not let age stand in between me and my goal. I’m nearing 30, but it’s not a problem.” Astro Arena quoted him as saying.
“As of now, I’m going to focus on the Malaysian Open. I won’t worry too much about international tournaments.” he added. Shaharuddin will feature in the Malaysian Open starting tomorrow.
Shaharuddin Jamaluddin also said he will definitely perform to the best he can in every tournament from now on, as he needs to prove that he’s still got it what it takes.
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