Pencak Silat Produces Four Golds

VIENTIATE, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- Pencak Silat gave Malaysia four gold medals at the 25th SEA Games in Laos on Thursday.

National pencak silat exponent Mohd Fauzi Khalib also turned into instant hero by clinching Malaysia's 30th gold medal.

The Penang lad outdone his rival from Vietnam, Truong Van Mao in the Class F men's below-75kg category final held at the Laos International Exhibition and Convention Centre, here.

In the highly anticipated final, the 22-year-old Fauzi earned the first point after he unleashed a powerful kick that forced the Vietnamese to tumble to the ground, which Fauzi said had boosted his confidence in the competition.

Speaking to Malaysian reporters after the match, Mohd Fauzi said: "I'm very proud as I've produced the badly needed gold medal for the Malaysian contingent."

Bronze was won by Marniel Dimla of the Philippines and Singaporean Elyasak Said.

Yesterday, with two days remaining before the closing ceremony of the biennial Games, the Malaysian contingent was in sixth position in the 11-country medal tally with only 29 golds, less one gold from the initial target of 30.

Faizal Abdullah produced the second gold after beating Thailand's Chanon Untakool 5-0 in the final of the men's Class H below-85kg category.

Faizal, 29, a military police personnel attached to the Jalan Genting-Klang's military camp, said this was his best achievement so far after a bronze medal at the 2007 Korat SEA Games.

"This time around, the pencak silat squad are well prepared with much tougher training before the Games," he said.

Nguyen Thanh Quyen of Vietnam and Shafiq Saiful of Singapore got the bronze.

The third gold came from Mohd Hafiz Mahari, 22, in the men's Class A below- 50kg after defeating host country opponent Okhe Botsavang in the final. The bronze went to Niphon Jantaro of Thailand and Amirul Ahat of Brunei Darussalam.

Meanwhile, Emy Latip gave the fourth gold in the women's Class C below-60kg after edging out Thailand's Jutarat Noytapa in the final. Anissa Pangestina of Indonesia and Saiedah Said of Singapore took the bronze.

After the completion of pencak silat today, Vietnam emerged champion after clinching six gold medals, four silver and a bronze, while Malaysia was in second place with four gold and six bronze medals, and Thailand in third (2-4-4).

-- BERNAMA