Krista Dyer is enjoying the fruits of her labour after securing a medal on her debut at the Sanda World Cup in Jiangyin, China.

The Bermudian will return home with a silver medal from the women’s 65kg division after taking down Australian Nicole Lowe-Tarbert in her final round-robin contest on the last day of the event at the Culture and Sports Indoor Stadium.

“I am super ecstatic to come away with the silver medal,” an elated Dyer told The Royal Gazette. “The Sanda World Cup promises some of the best competitors in the world and I was honoured to be among them.”

“I have been more nervous for this particular event than anything in years. But being an athlete you have to overcome the nerves and just put your best foot forward no matter the circumstances. I am glad I was able to do that and pleased with the results, and now it’s time to enjoy the spoils of my hard work.”

The 37-year-old fell out of contention for top honours after losing her opening match against eventual gold medal-winner and tournament favourite Iranian Sedigheh Dariaeivarkadeh, of Iran, by an absolute victory (12-point spread).

“The Iranian is unarguably the best 65kg fighter in the world,” Dyer said. “I wanted to make it out of the first round but fell to the 12-point spread rule, where if one fighter pulls 12 points ahead of another on all five judges’ scorecards the match is ended right there.

“That wasn’t a common occurrence in the Sanda World Cup this time around for various reasons. But I was very pleased that I displayed some good skills against Iran and pleased with how I handled that difficult match.”

Dariaeivarkadeh clinched the gold medal in her next match with victory against Lowe-Tarbert, leaving her and Dyer to battle it out for the silver medal.

Dyer, the two-times Pan American women’s 65kg champion, was forced to dig deep in the rematch.

“I faced her in the World Wushu Championships in 2023 and she’s definitely been working on her Sanda and came ready to fight,” said Dyer, who also won the previous fight between the pair.

“But our plan going into this match was just for me to stay busy, be first and don’t be afraid to make it a bit dirty. That’s what I tried to keep in mind.

“Even though at some point she was up in the match, I refused to let that get to me mentally and eventually pulled ahead three judges to two in the first round.

“Going into the second round she had backed off with her speed and her frequency of attacks, and I was just able to hit and move and score points in a manner that I’ve been having lots of success with against other competitors.

“I really came to play and it secured me the victory and earned me the silver medal.”

Dyer’s coach Garon Wilkinson, the Bermuda Sanshou Association president, hailed the athlete’s medal-winning display against Lowe-Tarbert.

“It was a very competitive fight and she was actually behind in the first round but got a push off, which gave her two points,” he said.

“I think that helped to gain momentum and she was able to turn the table on three of the judges’ scorecards. Three of the five called it for Krista, with the other two calling it for Australia.

“I am really pleased and happy to come out with at least a silver. Really proud and it’s been an excellent trip.”

Dyer qualified for a first Sanda World Cup by winning the silver medal at the 2023 World Wushu Championships in Texas.

She is only the third Bermudian to compete at the Sanda World Cup behind cousins Jermal and Sentwali Woolridge, who came away with medals at the 2014 event held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Jermal, the elder of the two relatives, won the bronze in the 90kg-plus weight class and Sentwali silver in the 70kg division.

Dyer was also accompanied in China by manager-coach Nolette Webb.