Osman: We will win five golds

FOR the past eight SEA Games, Malaysia's silat squad have only failed to win a gold medal once - at the 1997 Jakarta Games.

They, however, had five silver and seven bronze medals to show then.

This year, the silat exponents are ready to deliver five gold me- dals.

"We are confident of delivering five gold medals despite the National Sports Council's (NSC) projection of only four," said assis- tant team manager Osman Nok.

Four out of the five gold medals are expected to come from the silat olahraga category while Suzy Sulaiman is poised to win the only gold from the silat seni cate- gory.

"Our five medal prospects have produced consistent results all- year round, which we have taken into consideration, before ma- king our prediction," said Osman.

The four golds form the silat olahraga category are expected to come from Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek, Abang Erdie Fauzeral Abang Fauzan, Ahmad Shahril Zailudin, Mohd Zuber Ismail and Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek.

All five won World Championships titles in their respective categories at last year's meet in Singapore and also won in this year's Paris, Belgium and Swit- zerland Opens.

"We are also expecting some surprises from the other exponents in the squad, who have improved in the past year," added Osman.

The silat contingent arrived home yesterday, after a five-day sparring stint in Bangkok.

The team will leave for Cebu Island on Nov 27.

THE SQUAD SILAT OLAHRAGA Men: Abang Erdie Fauzeral Abang Fauzan, Amir Ikram Rahim, Ahmad Shahril Zailudin, Norhasmizam Abdullah, Mohd Neezan Jelani, Mohd Zuber Ismail, Zamri Mat Nor, Mohd Azrin Abdul Malek, Shuhairi Chin Women: Siti Jameelah Md Japilus, Malini Mohd, Emy Latip SILAT SENI Men: Hafiz Abu Hassan, Mohd Fauze Latip Women: Habizan Othman, Suzy Sulaiman, Marzuki Mokhtar, Siti Nur Eisyah Zainal Abidin, Norhidayah Yusof, Rina Juliana Adnan SCHEDULE Manager: Md Sohaimi Mohd Shah Assistant manager: Osman Nok Coaches: Ahmad Wardi Salim, Mazlan Shaari, Nasri Nasir, Othman Jupri Psychologist: Mohd Nizar Ahmad Padzi

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