M’sian silat exponents win five gold medals

KUALA LUMPUR: The National silat squad received a boost ahead of the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games 2017 in August after winning five gold medals in the 2017 Belgium Open Pencak Silat Championships in Belgium on Sunday.

Muhammad Faizul Mohd Nasir, a silat exponent under the Kita Juara Programme, contributed the first gold medal after beating home favourite Derent Xavier 5- 0 in the Class B Putera ( 5055kg) category, according to the National Sports Council’s Facebook entry.

The second gold and third gold medals were won by exponents from the Podium Programme - Mohd Al- Jufferi Jamari and Razak Ghazali, from the Class E Putera E ( 65-70kg) category and Class D Putera ( 60- 65kg) category respectively.

Mohd Al- Jufferi who is the 2016 World Junior champion beat another home favourite, Hachler Ammier 5- 0 while Razak knocked out Singapore’s Nor Hakim Samsudin.

The fourth and fifth gold medals also came from exponents under the Kita Juara Programme, Siti Shazwana Ajak and Muhammad Robial Sobri after beating their respective opponents.

Siti Shazwana scored a 4- 1 victory over Singapore’s Nurul Suhaila in the Class D Puteri ( 6065kg) category and Robial defeated another Singapore exponent Sheikh Ferdous 5- 0 in the Class H Putera ( 80- 85kg) category.

However, Indonesia emerged as the overall champion with seven gold and four bronze compared with Malaysia’s haul of ( 5- 4- 4) while Singapore finished third with one gold, four silver and two bronze medals.

Six countries - Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Holland, Malaysia, Belgium - participated in the championships. — Bernama