Four RI fighters fall at first hurdle

Only two of the six national team pencak silat fighters competing on Wednesday advanced to the second round of competition at Cebu Coliseum

On the first day of competition, Yohanes Edison Buru, in the men's 60-65 kilograms B division, beat Zan Lon Khot of Myanmar 3-2

His hard-fought win was followed by the 5-0 romp of Dian Krisanto over Bruneian Ak Mohd Khairul Alimin in the men's 45-50 kgs A division

But Lutfan Budi Santosa, M. Shodiq, Salmawati, and Fentje R. Maengkom disappointed as they lost at the first hurdle, with three of them failing to score

Lutfan (50-55 kgs B) lost 0-5 to the Philippines' Chrisopher F. Yabut, and M. Shodiq (55-60 kgs A) was defeated 2-3 by Vietnamese Nguyen Ba Trinh

Women's fighter Salmawati (45-50 kgs A) was unable to score against Vietnamese Le Thi Hang to lose 0-5 and men's fighter Fentje (70-75 kgs F) lost with the same score to Marniel Dimla

"So far the results are still within our expectation," national pencak silat team manager M. Taufik said

He also felt Fentje should have won his bout

The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) has targeted six golds from the Games

"We want to take two golds from the women's division, three from the men's and one from artistic," Taufik said

He added that the development of pencak silat was very good in the region, with athletes from other neighboring countries now up to par with Indonesians, where the sport originated

"It is equal now in terms of technique and stamina," he said

In the 2003 SEA Games, host Vietnam triumphed in the overall standings of the pencak silat competition with 12 gold and five bronze, while Indonesia finished second with four gold, five silver and seven bronze

"Now, the situation is different. Philippines is growing but not so fast in pencak silat, while Vietnam cannot get the benefits of being the host like they did in the 2003 SEA Games," Taufik said

"Hopefully we could get the six golds, but to surpass our target is a bit difficult due to stiff competition among participants."

Written by MOCH. N KURNIAWAN
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