KUALA LUMPUR: He is only six years old but he has made a remarkable achievement. He shines in the international arena and causes the world to marvel at Malaysia!

Bryan Leong, who is from Kuala Lumpur, has created a world record by winning the gold medal after defeating contenders from the United States, Germany and Ireland in the 2009 World Kick Boxing Championship (for under 12 category). He is now known as the world's youngest kick boxing gold medallist.

Over 3,500 contestants from 35 countries and regions took part in the championship organised by the World Karate and Kick boxing Association which was recently held in Spain.

Leong did not expect much and his participation was meant to gain experience. However, he drew the audience's attention the moment when the results were announced as he has created a historical world record.

The little big man started to learn kick boxing since he was three. He was very active and difficult to teach at that time. In order to make him more well-behaved and disciplined, his mother decided to let him learn kick boxing.

Bryan said that he loves kick boxing very much and finds it interesting and fun.

“I never thought that I can win, particularly to become a world champion. I'm really very happy! However, I'll not be satisfied with the temporary victory, I'll keep learning,” he said.

His mother said that she did not expect her six-year-old son to win the gold medal. But he did it and won glory for the country, his coach and family are very happy for him.

She said that under the coach's careful guidance, Bryan has totally changed and he learned how to obey orders. He has healthy development both physically and mentally as along his growing process, he gets the balance between books and sports.

For Bryan, it is nothing to go for training for at least five days a week. Instead, he enjoys it. Sometimes, when he had to go abroad with his parents, he would worry about lagging behind after missing the classes. Thus, we can see that he did put a lot of efforts to earn today's achievement.

There is still a long way to go and Bryan has decided to put more efforts in kick boxing.

Bryan's coach AVS Bathi, who is also the President of the Malaysian Kickboxing Federation (MKF), contributed much to his achievement.

Bathi said that along the learning process, kick boxing techniques and styles are important but it is equally important to understand the students' psychological and physical conditions. Only by this, the students may have more comprehensive development and it is easier for them to absorb what they have learned.

Bathi said proudly that MKF is the only government-recognised kick boxing federation in the country as he trains his students based on the syllabus while the ribbon grading system is based on the Olympics regulations. It is recognised by the world, too.

The team selected by Bathi are all elites while the outstanding results have created a high momentum for the team. They are expecting greater achievement in the competition next year.

Bathi hopes that the team's good performance this time will draw attention ofthe society, particularly the Ministry of Youth and Sports. He hopes that they can assist in the development of kick boxing in Malaysia as they are lack of various assistance, particularly, they always have inadequate funding problems. (By YANG RUIYUAN/ Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/ Sin Chew Daily)