By LIM TEIK HUAT
Immediate task: R. Puvaneswaran will prepare the national junior karate exponents for the Asian Championships and the World Juniors challenges this year.
PETALING JAYA: R. Puvaneswaran bowed out of competitive karate on a glorious note – with his second Asian Games gold medal in Guangzhou last November – but the country has not seen the last of him.
Puvaneswaran will embark on a new chapter in his career as a coach next month.
The Malaysian Karate Federation (Makaf) and the National Sports Council (NSC) have agreed to rope in Puvaneswaran to handle the national juniors’ training full-time at Bukit Jalil.
Puvaneswaran, together with another former SEA Games gold medallist S. Mahendran, will prepare the national juniors for the Asian Karate Championships in China next month followed by the World Juniors, which will be held in Malacca in October.
The 36-year-old father of three children is relieved that his hopes of pursuing a coaching career is coming to fruition.
“I have been waiting for some time to be roped in as a coach,” said Puvaneswaran.
“In the meantime, I continued to earn a living through my own karate classes. But I was always positive as I knew things will be sorted out eventually. I am expecting to get the contract soon ... but it should be just a formality.
“I have to thank Makaf and NSC for giving me the chance to coach the national Under-21 squad. I am starting a new chapter in my career.
“Previously, I was fighting more for myself but now it is about guiding the future talents and sharing my experiences with them so that they can improve themselves,” added the five-time SEA Games gold medallist.
Puvaneswaran, who has also bagged three Asian Championships individual gold medals, is familiar with the junior exponents and feels he will have no problem settling into the new environment.
“I was already being groomed by master Arivalagan (the national coach) in the first place,” said Puvaneswaran. “The juniors often train together with the elite squad and we will share our knowledge.
“There is not much time as the Asian Champ-ionships is next month but we want to get the exponents to do well in the World Juniors as we are hosting it for the first time.”
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