LAHAD DATU: The Sabah Hapkido team brought home three medals from the Southeast Asia Hapkido Championship 2025 held in Indonesia from June 14 to 15.
Sabah Hapkido founder and President, Master Bernardo Vivero said Sabah bagged a gold medal and two bronzes in the championship.
Bernardo said Ikhwanul Hakim Endrajid secured the gold medal after defeating two athletes from Thailand.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});He further said Ikhwanul showed an amazing performance including winning a technical knockout (TKO) in the early round and complete victory in the final round.
“His amazing performance saw him crowned as the best youth athlete of the championship.
“We also secured two bronze medals from Daphne Suling and Mohd Izwan Fitri.
“Our other athlete, Affyzan Bernardo also showed standout performance but had to concede to the participant from Cambodia in the quarter-finals,” he said.
According to Bernardo, the success shows that although Hapkido is newly introduced in Malaysia, especially in Sabah, it has successfully produced high calibre young athletes to compete at the international level.
He said all the athletes will diligently continue learning and training to inspire more people to join Hapkido.
“Hapkido is a Korean martial art that emphasises practical self-defence, incorporating techniques like joint locks, grappling, throws and striking.
“Those interested in joining us may follow us on Facebook - Hapkido Sabah or contact me at 010-4539970,” he added.