Adeola Fay Robert Won Malaysia's First Gold of the Asian Games in Women's Karate Kumite
She beat Iran's Fatemehzahra Saeidabadi six to four in the under-fifty-five-kilogramme final to end Malaysia's twelve-year wait for a women's karate gold at the Asian Games.
Adeola Fay Robert won Malaysia's first gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on 22 September 2026, beating Iran's Fatemehzahra Saeidabadi 6-4 in the women's under-55kg kumite final at Toyohashi Gymnasium in Aichi Prefecture.
The victory ended a long wait for Malaysia's women karate exponents. The country's previous women's karate gold at the Asian Games came at Incheon in 2014, when Syakilla Salni took the title.
Adeola's gold lifted Malaysia's tally to one gold and three bronze medals by the fourth day of competition. One of those bronzes came on the same day from wushu exponent Tan Cheong Min in the women's combined nanquan and nandao event.
It was a mixed day for Malaysia overall. The men's sepak takraw team regu squad beat India 3-0 to reach the semi-finals as Group B winners, but both badminton teams were knocked out in the quarter-finals, the men losing 3-2 to Indonesia and the women going down 3-1 to South Korea.
Malaysia's next medal hope in the traditional sports comes in the sepak takraw team regu, where the men meet either South Korea or Indonesia in the semi-finals on Thursday 24 September, while the karate competition continues at Toyohashi.