At just 20 years old, Myuoor Maiyien Pillay has already carved out a name for himself in the world of karate and hopes to become the number-one-ranked kata athlete in Africa for the Senior Division.

Residing in Fish Hoek and currently in his third year of studying Business Science in Finance with Accounting at the University of Cape Town, Pillay says the love of sport runs in the family.

Love of sport

Pillay’s parents, sister, uncles, and aunts all participated in various sports at school and club levels.
However, he is the first in his family to participate in a sport at a provisional, national, and international level.

His list of achievements shows no sign of slowing down.

Achievements

Pillay is a World University Silver Medallist, Commonwealth Champion, Southern African Champion, National Champion, and University National Champion.

He has also held the number one ranking in both the Senior and U21 Kata categories simultaneously.
Pillay was named Western Cape Senior Sportsman of the Year for 2024, holds a 2nd Degree Black Belt, and is a South African Protea Athlete.

He first started practising karate when he was 4 years old and has been doing it for 16 years now.

“I fell in love with the amazing martial art from the day I started. I loved every second of being in the dojo and learning the techniques from a young age,” he said.

Challenges

However, despite the accolades, his endurance is constantly tested with training schedules and personal goals.

“Every career comes with challenges, but I see them as opportunities to grow. For me, things like balancing intense training schedules with studies and handling the pressure of competition have all taught me resilience, discipline and focus,” he says.

Instead, any setbacks he has faced became moments that pushed him to become stronger, both physically and mentally, and they’ve shaped him into the athlete he is today.

Earlier this month he retained his University Sports South Africa (USSA) national title by winning gold for the second consecutive year at a karate championship held at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).

“There was a high level of competitiveness at the championship, however in high level moments I thrive and achieve my goals. This competition was special to me as I was not only representing myself, but I also represented the University of Cape Town. As with any competition I compete in, there was an immense amount of discipline, hard work and dedication that went into to achieving this gold medal,” he said.

The next set of competitions he’ll take part in include: the World Goju-Ryu Karate Championship, which will be held in Pune, India in October and the Karate South Africa National league 1 tournament to be held in Mpumalanga in September.

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