18 September 2001

Darus, Azrin wins more than just gold

FOUR gold medals in the bag, one by default, and the Malaysian silat olaraga squad can celebrate.

And the celebration was made more meaningful yesterday by the very fact that the two Malaysian victors - Ismail Darus and Mohd. Azrin Abdul Malek - yesterday had downed the reigning world champions from Indonesia to win their respective gold medals.

Ismail took care of Abdul Karim Al Djufrie in the men's Class A while Mohammad Azrin Malek demolised Nyoman Yamadhi Putra in the men's Class I.

Then it was Mastura Sapuan's turn to step on the rostrum with an efficient performance to beat her Vietnamese opponent Lam Thi Houng in the women's Class E contest.

It was gold No 3 for Malaysia at the Pasir Gudang Indoor stadium yesterday and No 4 came even easier. Without having to raise a sweat, literally.

Ahmad Faizal Omar was to have fought Indonesia's Samuel Mallo for the gold in the men's Class J but his opponent did not even show up.

Some say it was a sign of protest over an earlier decision to turn down the Indonesian's appeal over the result of the Vietnam's Trinh Thi Mui versus Nikomang Ayu Ariati fight in the women's Class C which gave the gold to the Vietnamese.

But others say Samuel was injured having suffered a broken bone in his right arm in his semi-final bout on Friday.

Whatever the reasons, the night belonged to the Malaysian silat exponents and it certainly belonged to Abdul Karim and Mohammad Azrin.

Both of them showed true grit to overcome their opponents for the gold medals to add to Malaysia's overall tally.

As Mohammad Azrin said: "I didn't care if my opponent is the reigning world champion. I just went out to fight and in my mind I knew I stand a chance of winning."

And fought they did.

Particularly the Pontian-born Mastura who was so strong and convincing in dominating the fight over her Vietnamese opponent in her maiden Sea Games.

"This is a victory and a gold medal I dedicate to all Malaysians," she said.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78423908/darus-azrin-wins-more.html

17 September 2001

Pencak silat athletes save RI pride

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Pencak silat athletes salvaged some Indonesian pride at the SEA Games after winning four golds on Friday as the two- horse race between Malaysia and Thailand intensified.

Bambang Priwahyudi, Tuti Winarni, Dwi Shimanto and the pairing of Yusuf Hidayat/Asep Solihin gave some consolation to Indonesia, which looks destined to end up in the third position in the overall championship stakes.

With three days to go, Indonesia is stuck in a distant third position with only 51 golds. The defending champion is steadily moving up the ladder with 69 golds compared to Malaysia's 73.

Apart from pencak silat, a traditional form of martial art popular in the Southeast Asian nations, cycling, judo and shooting were the only other two sports that produced gold for Indonesia.

The cycling arena has become the gold mine for the Indonesian contingent. After a nine-gold collection from the track, the team reaped another two from the mountain bike event in Selangor on Friday.

Risa Suseanty won the women's 1.5km Down Hill in three minutes and 50.59 seconds. She beat Thailand's Kanittha Pratom to second place on 3:52.36 seconds, while Vietnam's Thi Thuy Trang finished third on 3:58.38 seconds.

Her male compatriot Sugianto Setiawan covered the 1.5 km route in 3 minutes and 10.20 seconds, to leave behind the Thai duo of Sitichai Gatekaewmanee on 3:11.65 and Nutawut Patihan on 3:21.51.

Dwi Simanto put up a brave fight against Manop Leewat Janakl of Thailand to win the middleweight final for the team's second gold at the meet.

The shooting range yielded another gold for Indonesia from the team double trap competition.

Indonesian archer Kuswantoro failed to make the SEA Games a double success after being narrowly pipped by Parawit Poliunoleed of Thailand 108-107 in the men's individual.

Contests in the track and field and inside the weightlifting hall ended up with only a silver. Sylvia Silimang added the tally with a silver in the women's individual double trap.

Ong Kok Hin in the men's hammer throw, Darimah in women's discuss and Supriati Sutono in 1,500 meters took to the field with high hopes only to find themselves second-bested at the end.

Likewise, Joko Hanggono could only win a silver for the weightlifting team. But unlike their athletics compatriots, the lifters should come back home with their heads held high.

Joko's silver was only an extra medal to their collection which already consists of six golds.

In the ring, Thai boxers showed their invincibility. After winning all five bouts in the first semifinal stage on Thursday, they won another six ties on Friday.

Indonesia has only two boxers left in the final, Bonyx Yusak Saweho and Albert Papilaya. Other finalists will be six from Malaysia, two from the Philippines and one from Laos. The final bouts are to be staged on Saturday.

The Indonesian badminton squad is assured of another two golds after it managed to make all-Indonesian finals in the men's and mixed doubles. However, the men's singles title will surely go elsewhere as Ronny Agustinus and Marlev Mainaky failed to advance.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78347756/pencak-silat-athletes-save.html

Indonesia and Viet Nam continue to excel in silat

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- Indonesian and Vietnamese silat exponents continued to rule supreme at this SEA Games while the Malaysian team too had a good outing.

Indonesia re-emerged as the overall champions after being outclassed by Vietnam at the 1999 Games in Brunei.

The Indonesians collected nine gold, six silver and five bronze medals against Vietnam's six-five-seven tally.

Malaysia's medal count was five-one-four, their best since silat made its SEA Games debut in 1987.

Elsewhere, Singapore collected one gold, two silver and one bronze, the Philippines four silver and four bronze, Thailand two silver and nine bronze, Brunei one silver and two bronze, and Mynamr five bronze.

There were altogether 21 gold, 21 silver and 37 bronze medals at stake in silat. Five gold medals were offered in the artistic categories and 16 in the tanding (combat) categories.

Vietnam's former silat coach Suhartono said the Vietnamese exponents had high fighting spirit and strong mental resilience.

The Indonesian, who trained the Vietnamese team from 1995 to 2000, is responsible for Vietnam's success in emerging as the overall champions in the 1999 Games.

Suhartono, who is now the chief coach of the Philippine team, said Vietnam had become so good that it would not be surprising if one day Malaysia and Indonesia had to learn from them.

Malaysian team manager Datuk Mohd Rashidi Mohd Noor too praised the Vietnamese exponents.

"They have been consistent. They won seven gold in Brunei and have now collected six. I understand their exponents undergo intensive training on a continuous basis to face international-level tournaments," he said.

On the Malaysians' performance, Mohd Rasidi said he was on the whole satisfied although they did not meet his target of eight gold.

They managed to achieve the five-gold target set by the Olympics Council of Malaysia (OCM), he said.

While the silat exponents are working hard to excel, the marking system needs to be improved too.

At this Games, the Indonesians were clerly unhappy with he jury's decision in the contest between their woman exponent Al Fana and Vietnam's Trinh Thi Nga.

The jury ruled 4-1 in the Vietnam's favour but the Indonesians feel their exponent should have been the winner.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway to include silat as a competitive sports in the 2006 Asian Games after it is featured as a exhibition sport in the 2002 Games in Pusan.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78424064/indonesia-and-vietnam-continue.html

VIETNAM AND INDONESIA EXPONENTS SHINE IN SILAT

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- Vietnam and Indonesian exponents will dominate the finals of the tanding (combat) category in the SEA Games silat competition at the Johor Corporation Indoor Stadium in Pasir Gudang on Sunday.

Vietnam, the overall champions in the 1999 SEA games in Brunei with seven golds, have 10 of their exponents marchining into the finals -- four men and six women.

The finals will also feature 11 Indonesians -- six men and five women.

Elswhere, Malaysia will have three men and one woman finalists, Singapore three men, the Philippines two men and Thailand two men.

The tanding catrgory offer 16 gold medals -- 10 in the men's events and six in women's.

Today, the second day of the semi-finals, saw exponents from Vietnam and Singapore hogging the limelight while Malaysia had a disappointing outing.

Of the five Malaysians who took part, only Ahmad Faizal Omar and Mastura Sapuan qualified for the finals.

The other two Malaysians who qualified yesterday are Ismail Darus and Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek.

Malaysian team manager Datuk Mohd Rashidi Mohd Noor expressed disappointment at the overall performance of the Malaysian exponents.

"I'm a bit disappointed although they did put up a good fight," he said.

Ahmad Faizal, 32, beat Nguyen Thanh of Vietnam 3-2 in the J category to book a place in the final against Indonesia's Samuel Mallo.

Mastura, 22, defeated Evangelene Gaguioa of the Philippines in the E category. She will take on Vietnam's Lam Thi Huong in the final.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78352537/vietnam-and-indonesia-exponents.html

Indonesians reemerge as overall champs in silat

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 16 (Bernama) -- Indonesia, who lost the overall championship in the silat competition to Vietnam in the 1999 SEA Games, have re-emerged as the silat powrhouse in this Games.

The Indonesians won nine gold medals compared to six by Vietnam. Hosts Malaysia did quite well by winning five golds while Singapore took one.

A total of 21 gold medals were at stake in silat -- six in artistic silat and 16 in the tanding (combat events).

The finals of the 16 tanding categories (10 men's and six women's) were held today at the Johor Corporation Indoor Stadium in Pasir Gudang.

Indonesia's gold medallists in the men's tanding events were Abas Akhbar, Tri Widodo and Fentje Royke Maengkom, while the women champions were Ni Made Arya Dwi Damayanthi and Ika Lesmana Nurgana.

Indonesia blew their chance of winning another gold in the men's category when Samuel Mallo failed to appear in the contest against Malaysia's Ahmad Faizal Omar, earning Malaysia a gold without fight.

Samuel's action appeared to be a protest against the decision in the woman final between Indonesia's Al Fana and Vietnam's Trinh Thi Nga.

The Indonesians were upset with the 4-1 win awarded to the Vietnamese woman.

Vietnam proved their strength in the women's events, winning three of the six gold medals through Ngu Yen Ngoc Anh and sisters Trinh Thi Mui and Trinh Thi Nga.

Vietnam also won three of men's events through Dinh Cong Son, Nguyen Huu Long and Ngu Yew Van Hung.

Malaysia's "tanding" golds came from Ismail Darus, Mohd Azrin Abd Malek and Ahmad Faizal in the men's events and Mastura Sapuan in the women's category.

Malaysia had earlier won a gold in the artistic event through the women's combination of Noor Syahidda Wati Abdullah Sani and Shalina Abdul Ghafar.

The five golds won by Malaysia is higher than the three won by the country in the Brunei Games.

Singapore's Mohd Zulfakar Mohd Ramli won the sold gold for his country by retaining the title in his category.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78352728/indonesians-re-emerge-overall.html

15 September 2001

INDONESIA AND VIETNAM SET TO DOMINATE SILAT FINALS

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Vietnam and Indonesia are expected to grab the lion's share of the 16 gold medals at stake in the tanding (combat) category of the SEA Games silat competition.

All 16 finals -- 10 for the men and six for women -- will be held at the Johor Corporation Indoor Stadium in Pasir Gudang tomorrow.

Vietnam, the overall champions in the 1999 Games in Brunei with seven gold medals, have 10 finalists (four men and six women) and hope to win at least six golds.

Indonesia, have 11 exponents in the finals (six men and five women), are eying three or four golds.

The Indonesians are expected to do well in the men's events but would find it difficult in the women's events as their five contestants are all facing the highly reputed Vietnamese exponents.

"We wish to win as many golds as possible to regain the the overall silat champions title from Vietnam," said deputy team manager Hariyandi Anuar.

Indonesian silat exponents earlier won four of the five gold medals in the artistic category, while the other gold went to Malaysia.

Malaysia, who will have four representatives -- three men and one woman -- in tomorrow's final, hope to win at least three golds.

Team manager Datuk Mohd Rashidi Anwar said he was confident of atleast two gold medals from Ahmad Faizal Omar and Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek.

"I however hope we will get another gold from either Ismail (Darus) or Mastura (Sapuan) as they are known for their fighting spirit," he said.

Singapore with three finalists in the men's categories, are also in a strong position to win gold medals.

The Philippines and Thailand each have two finalists in the men's categories.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78352631/indonesia-and-vietnam-set.html

13 September 2001

VIETNAM AND INDONESIA ON COLLISION COURSE

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- Favourites Vietnam and Indonesia are set for explosive encounters in the SEA Games silat competition here, with the former placing nine contestants and the latter 10 in the semi-finals.

All nine Vietnamese exponents won their quarter-final bouts today, while 10 of the 11 from Indonesia in the quarter-finals also got past their opponents.

Four of the Vietnamese exponents are males -- Bui Phu Sau in the F category, Tran Thanh Binh (B), Nguyen Thanh Bach Nhut (J) and Ngu Yen Van Hungn (H).

The female exponents are Lam Thi Huong (E), Trinh Thi Mui (C), Le Thi Hang (A), Trinh Thi Nga (D) and Le Thi Hong Ngoan (F).

Indonesia, who are expected to challenge Vietnam for overall honours, have five representatives in the men's section.

They are Abd Karim Al Djufrie, Lamech Manam, Samuel Mallo, Nyoman Yamadhiputra and Tri Widodo.

The combat categories in silat offer 10 golds in the men's section and six in the women's. The finals will be held on Sunday.

Malaysia have eight participants in the quarter-finals, including six who were given byes.

The two who fought their way through are Ismail Darus (A) and Mastura Sapuan (E). They join Muhammad Fajar Subhi Ahmad, Shamsul Nizam Abdul Rahman (H), Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek (I), Ahmad Faizal Omar (J), Hamidah Jaafar (B) and Syarina Abdul Fatah (C).

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78235086/vietnam-and-indonesia-collision.html

SILAT TEAM MANAGER DENIES REPORT ON WOMAN IN MEN'S ROOM

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- The national pencak silat team manager Datuk Mohd Rashidi Mohd Noor today denied a press report that two Malaysian male exponents had brought women to their rooms on Sunday.

"The press report was slanderous as the incident never happened," he said at a press conference here today.

Mohd Rashidi expressed regret over the report which had affected the performance of the nationnal exponents who were competing in the quarterfinals today.

Only two of the eight Malaysian exponents made it to the semifinals in the fighting category.

The press report which quoted sources today stated that the two silat exponents who had brought women to their rooms had been detained by police on duty at the hotel where the contingent were staying.

Rashidi said he had contacted the police officer at the hotel and the officer had denied that police had detained the two exponents.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78235085/silat-team-manager-denies.html

12 September 2001

VIETNAM, INDONESIA DOMINATE ON FIRST DAY OF SILAT EVENTS

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Two Malaysian exponents lost in the first round of the pencak silat events at the Pasir Gudang Corporation Indoor Stadium, here tonight while all the exponents from Vietnam and Indonesia had beaten their opponents.

However, four Malaysian exponents led by Nik Adli Nik Abdullah and Ismail Darus made it to the quarterfinals after beating their opponents.

Rina Jordana Adnan, the only Malaysian woman exponent who fought tonight, and Mohd Fajar Subhi Ahmad also proceeded to the quarterfinals.

Malaysia's Shamsuddin Mohd Darus and Ahmad Shahril Zailuddin were both defeated by the Brunei SEA Games gold medallists.

Shamsuddin, who competed in Class D, was beaten by Abas Akar from Indonesia while Ahmad Shahril Zailuddin was beaten by Mohamed Zulfakar Ramli from Singapore in Class D.

The fight between Ahmad Sharil and Mohamed Zulfakar was the climax of tonight's events with the former losing by a narrow 2-3 margin to the more experienced Singapore exponent.

Indonesia, as expected, were in full control in the silat category with all their five exponents winning in the preliminary rounds.

Besides Abas, the other Indonesians who proceeded to the quarrterfinals were Abdul Karim Al Djufrie, Lamech Manam, Tri Widodo and Haris Nguroho.

Vietnam, who were the overall champions in the last SEA Games in Brunei, also saw all their seven exponents winning the first round.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78173620/vietnam-indonesia-dominate-first.html

VIETNAM, INDONESIA DOMINATE ON FIRST DAY OF SILAT EVENTS

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- Two Malaysian exponents lost in the first round of the pencak silat events at the Pasir Gudang Corporation Indoor Stadium, here tonight while all the exponents from Vietnam and Indonesia had beaten their opponents.

However, four Malaysian exponents led by Nik Adli Nik Abdullah and Ismail Darus made it to the quarterfinals after beating their opponents.

Rina Jordana Adnan, the only Malaysian woman exponent who fought tonight, and Mohd Fajar Subhi Ahmad also proceeded to the quarterfinals.

Malaysia's Shamsuddin Mohd Darus and Ahmad Shahril Zailuddin were both defeated by the Brunei SEA Games gold medallists.

Shamsuddin, who competed in Class D, was beaten by Abas Akar from Indonesia while Ahmad Shahril Zailuddin was beaten by Mohamed Zulfakar Ramli from Singapore in Class D.

The fight between Ahmad Sharil and Mohamed Zulfakar was the climax of tonight's events with the former losing by a narrow 2-3 margin to the more experienced Singapore exponent.

Indonesia, as expected, were in full control in the silat category with all their five exponents winning in the preliminary rounds.

Besides Abas, the other Indonesians who proceeded to the quarrterfinals were Abdul Karim Al Djufrie, Lamech Manam, Tri Widodo and Haris Nguroho.

Vietnam, who were the overall champions in the last SEA Games in Brunei, also saw all their seven exponents winning the first round.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78173620/vietnam-indonesia-dominate-first.html

10 September 2001

M'SIA CAN WIN EIGHT GOLDS, SAYS TEAM BOSS

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian exponents are capable of winning eight gold medals in the 21st SEA Games silat competition at the Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium here on Sept 10-14.

Team manager Datuk Md Rashidi Mohd Noor said he was satisfied with the national squad's preparation especially after they returned from training in Indonesia and Thailand last month.

"We observe that they have improved after returning from training abroad," he told Bernama after watching the exponents trained at the stadium today.

He said the silat seni exponents went to Indonesia for training while their silat olahraga teammates trained in Thailand.

The SEA Games silat competition offers 21 gold, 21 silver and 32 bronze medals.

Malaysia will take part in all silat events except the men's and women's solo category in the silat seni to protest against the International Silat Federation's move to introduce new rules in the two events.

Malaysia's best show in the SEA Games silat competition was in Manila in 1991 where they won five gold medals.

Two years ago in Brunei, they won three golds.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78049600/msia-can-win-eight.html

Jufri makes golden promise

"THE hair and the beard will go completely if my team wins three gold medals at the silat seni competition."

That's the promise of Malaysian team manager Othman Jufri three days before the silat competition begins at the Pasir Gudang Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

And he believes his athletes will be able to make him pay, albeit with his hair and beard.

"Things have gone so well for us in the past two months and I am confident they will deliver the three golds we are looking for," he said yesterday.

Norshidawati Abdullah and Salina Abdul Ghafar are his pick to win the women's doubles while Ahmad Faisal Omar is tipped to win in the men's solo.

All in all Malaysia are looking at six gold medals in silat - three in pencak silat and three in seni silat.

Othman's confidence stems from the fact that his charges have been able to perform so confidently in the last two days of training at the venue proper.

"It's a rare occasion to be able to train at the venue. We have had two days working out there and the exponents felt good.

"They like the new mat and are quite comfortable with it," said Othman.

But unlike the Malaysian silat seni team, the others have not been able to get to use the venue yet and it looks unlikely that the secretariat will allow any team to train there with the competition only three days away.

"It's a rule that no other team can train at the venue. Also, we were denied permission to train at the venue during the previous Sea Games in Brunei," said Othman.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-78051485/jufri-makes-golden-promise.html

05 September 2001

LACK OF EXPERIENCE NO BARRIER, SAYS GUTSY SITI SUKMAH

JOHOR BAHARU, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- Siti Sukmah Buang admits to being a little nervous about making her SEA Games debut but says a fight is only won or lost on the combat floor.

"I think whoever can take control on stage will have an advantage," said Siti Sukmah who will be representing Malaysia for the first time in the Class D silat olahraga.

When met at a training session here today, the gutsy Siti Sukmah, 21, said her target was to win a gold.

Siti Sukmah, a final year accounting student at Institut Yayasan Alor Gajah in Melaka, took up silat at the age of nine, following in the footsteps of her silat instructor father Buang Osman.

She represented Melaka at the Malaysia Games in Selangor in 1998 and in Penang in 2000, winning the gold on both occasions.

Armed with fighting spirit and thorough preparations, Siti Sukmah is ready for battle despite her lack of international experience.

"I have watched video recordings of several SEA Games competitions to learn about the opponents' style and pace," she said.

She joined the national silat squad in September last year after competing in the national championship at the Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium in Cheras.

Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-77852407/lack-experience-no-barrier.html