SEA Deaf Games: Ainnur Asyikin Turns Life Lessons Into Chess Success

From Farah Najihah Zuraimi

JAKARTA, Aug 25 (Bernama) — “Chess is like life. Every move has consequences, every choice has an impact. So we must think carefully before making a decision,” said Ainnur Asyikin Jupineh, 16, calmly, as though imparting a lesson on life to anyone who heard her.

But who would have thought that these words of wisdom came from a girl whose hair once fell out until she was almost bald, whose health deteriorated, and whose days were filled with the smell of medicine and the sounds of hospital machines.

Born healthy, Ainnur Asyikin was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma at the age of 10 and had to undergo intensive treatment, including 33 radiotherapy sessions and three cycles of chemotherapy that caused great physical pain and impaired her hearing by up to 58 per cent.

Six years later, the Sabahan girl stood on the podium of the SEA Deaf Games 2025, not as a frail little patient but as a champion who overcame the adversities of life to earn a gold medal for Malaysia.

“Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for everything. I really love chess because it is a game of the mind, not a physical sport,” she told Bernama.

Drawing inspiration from her idol, Malaysia’s first Grandmaster Yeoh Li Tian, the ever-smiling Ainnur Asyikin aspires to achieve success at the highest levels and make Malaysia proud on the world stage. 

She treats every training session and every tournament as a platform to prove her abilities and to keep striving for more titles, right up to the world level.

Behind her success stand two extraordinary figures who have always been her backbone, pushing and testing her every day, ensuring nothing is impossible for Ainnur Asyikin to live life like other children.

They are her father, Jupineh @ Juppe Sikin, 51, and her mother, Erneza @ Hardiana Sah, 48, who tirelessly poured their support, tears and love into their second child of five siblings, affectionately known as ‘Adik’.

Her mother, who was her constant caregiver throughout hospital treatments, will forever remember the most heartbreaking moment when Ainnur Asyikin looked at her with sorrowful eyes and uttered three words that pierced her heart: “Mama, my hair…” 

Thus, there is nothing Erneza desires more than to see her daughter remain healthy and happy, fully aware that Ainnur Asyikin is a cancer survivor.

“Before the diagnosis, my instincts told me something was wrong. She had the flu that never stopped for half a year. Over time, it got worse. Her breathing during sleep was so loud, like an elderly person.

“After that, Ainnur underwent full treatment lasting about one year and six months. Now she is no longer undergoing cancer treatment but still has to attend follow-up appointments every six months,” said the mother, who accompanied Ainnur Asyikin along with her husband in Jakarta.

Her father Jupineh stressed that it is their responsibility to continue supporting their child without hiding her “imperfections” because it is her right to be respected.

Ainnur Asyikin won three gold medals in women’s standard chess, mixed rapid and women’s blitz.

— BERNAMA