JOHOR BAHARU, March 12 (Bernama) -- Come October when Malaysia host the 2007 World Silat Championship in Seremban, three countries should be joining the fray for the first time
The International Pencak Silat Federation (IPSF), the controlling body for world silat, expects Azerbaijan, India and Italy to make their debut in the weeklong meet at the Paroi Sports Complex
"Representation at our World championship is getting bigger and this time we are expecting Azerbaijan, India and Italy to take part for the first time. Which is good because we want the sport to grow globally and hopefully make it to the Olympics one day," said Eddie Nalapraya, the president of the IPSF on the sidelines of the 2nd World Junior Silat Championship which ended in Singapore yesterday
Jakarta-based Nalapraya, who has been at the helm of the IPSF for the past 27 years, commended Malaysia for stepping forward to take over the host's job after Phuket was supposed to have done it in December last year
"The military coup in Thailand changed things and I am grateful to the president of the Malaysian Pencak Silat Association Datuk Mohammad Hassan (who is the Menteri Besar of Negeri Sembilan) for agreeing to take over," added Nalapraya
The IPSF, with its headquarters in Jakarta, has 33 affiliates and, according to Nalapraya, India will send a team to the Indonesian capital for training in preparation for the World meet
"And the Italians, I believe, have a good junior side and are ready to expose them in Malaysia in October. Of course, pencak silat is quite popular in Azerbaijan," he added
At the recent meet in Singapore, which also featured a Senior Open meet, nine countries took part. They are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Belgium, Japan, Brunei and Singapore.
Sourced from http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-160518996/breaking-new-ground-world.html
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