30 June 2001

National silat squad to be announced Wednesday

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- The full list of silat exponents to represent the country in the 21st SEA Games here from Sept 8 to 17 will be announced on Wednesday.

The list would be announced after the Malaysian National Silat Federation (Pesaka) selection committee had made a full assessment based on the competition between the two top teams here today.

"The competition held today was the final approach by Pesaka. However, victory in this competition will not be the final determination in the selection of the national squad. The overall assessment would also be based in terms of their fitness level, as well as technical and mental aspects," said Pesaka general-secretary Megat Zulkarnain Omar Din when met by Bernama.

He said that besides the exponents, two coaches would also be selected to guide the national squad.

At the moment, four coaches are training the national silat team. They are Ahmad Khusairy Ibrahim and Hussin Zawawi, who are training Team A, and Mohd Hairil Tanuri and Sabaruddin Che Ani who are training Team B.

Megat Zulkarnain said the silat squad and the coaches to be selected would undergo intensive training in Johor on July 8.

In addition, he said the national silat squad would also be sent abroad for training sessions.

"They are expected to go to Bangkok, Thailand on July 31 after which they will go to Vietnam for joint-training in August," he said.

He also said Pesaka was targetting eight gold medals for the Malaysian silat team in the SEA Games.

The best achievement by the national silat squad was in the Manila Games in 1991 when they won five golds while their worst outing was in the Jakarta Games in 1997 when they returned empty-handed.

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