Prem Kumar, the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist, lost 2-4 to Edari Oussama of Morocco in the repechage of the men’s Under-67kg category.

The 27-year-old SEA Games champion started well, eliminating Casper Lidegaard of Denmark 3-2 in the opening round, and Diogo Ribeiro of Portugal 1-0 in the second round.

However, he missed the cut for the quarter-finals when he lost 0-5 to finalist and European champion Eray Samdan of Turkey.

In the women’s Under-55kg category, Madhuri, 21, was eliminated in the third round after losing 0-1 to Burkitt Carla of Germany.

Earlier, the Asian Junior Championship silver medallist created an upset by eliminating 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist Cok Istri Agung Sanistyarani of Indonesia 5-4, and Valentina Toro of Chile 2-1.

“Both athletes performed well. It was a good preparation for them for the SEA Games and Asian Games,” national coach R Puvaneswaran said.

Malaysia’s chance of having a representative when karate makes its debut at the Olympics now rests on the shoulders of 2014 Karate1 World Cup champion R. Sharmendran in the men’s Under-75kg category.