Dumaan: a resilient gold medalist in pencak silat
JUST as Team Philippines started the process of realization of experiencing one of the tougher campaigns it has had in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, the sport of pencak silat infused some form of cheer after it finally ended a decade of gold medal drought care of a resilient athlete in Dines Dumaan.
Competed in the men’s tanding putra class A 45- 50 kg. category, the Capiz native Dumaan, competing in his first SEA Games, captured the gold medal by defeating Firman of Indonesia, 4-1, in the gold-medal match held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center last Tuesday.
It was a product of not giving up, Mr. Dumaan said, as he endured reeling from a solid hit by his opponent before taking Firman down thrice on his way to hacking out the gold medalwinning victory.
“I got dizzy when I got hit. I really had no idea if I can continue fighting,” said Mr. Dumaan, who got his shot at representing the country in the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia after claiming the bronze medal in the 5th Asian Beach Games and fourth place in the 17th World Pencak Silat Championship last year, after his victory.
“But I didn’t lose hope. I don’t want to quit and lose the chance of winning the gold medal for the country,” he added.
Mr. Dumaan’s gold medal was the first in the sport for the country since 2005 in the Games held here in the Philippines where Earl Buenviaje took gold in it.
Loosely described as the martial arts forms practiced throughout the Malay Archipelago, “silat” is traditionally practiced in Malaysia especially, Southern Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines and Indonesia. Silat is a combative form of the Malay fighting arts. It can be divided into two main categories which are “Silat Seni” ( Artistry event) and “Tanding” (Match event).
Meanwhile, the Philippines was to wrap up its campaign in the SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, falling way short of its goal of winning at least 50 gold medals out of 37 sports events it fielded athletes in. It currently has 24 gold, 33 silver and 64 bronze medals, good for sixth place in the 11-country field.
As of this writing, Filipino speed skater Kathryn Magno is the lone athlete left to compete. —