Datuk Alijus Sipil
SUBANG JAYA (Aug 20): Sabah wrapped up their Pencak Silat campaign with one gold and two bronze medals at Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten) in Kajang on Wednesday.
The final day haul brought Sabah’s overall Pencak Silat tally to two gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Sabah Silat Association (Pesaka Sabah) president Datuk Alijus Sipil was not too disheartened at failing to achieve the five-gold target.
He said the two gold medals were won by athletes who were not among the targeted medal prospects, showing that the squad had sufficient depth.
“Our gold medal prospects unfortunately were unable to deliver the desired results but it’s not all too bad.
“The positive thing is that they are still eligible for the next Sukma. With more experience under their belts, they can only get better,” he said when contacted.
Alijus revealed the association will come up with a plan to further develop and improve the standard of Sabah silat, including hiring foreign coach, preferably from Tarakan, Indonesia, to assist with the development.
“We will have a post mortem when we return and discuss ways to improve silat in the state,” he added.
Lelone Romzie delivered the gold after beating Pahang’s Muhammad Arif Razali in a closely contested final.
The finalists were level at 34 points at the end of the bout but Lelone was crowned champion after registering a higher score in the third round.
His scorecard read four, 10 and 20 points across the three rounds while Arif was awarded 10, eight and 16 points respectively.
Sabah’s bronze medals on Wednesday were from Raziq Rifqi Janioh in the Tanding Putera -45kg event and Mohd Faris Hakimi in the Tanding Putera Kelas J 90-95kg event after both lost their respective semifinal bouts.
Meanwhile, Sabah’s first Pencak Silat gold was won on Sunday in the Regu Puteri event by Manjaseerah Manuil, Sherlenna Abdullah and Fiffy Ferlisa Rien.
It was also Sabah’s first gold medal at the 22nd Sukma.
The silver medals went to Roslyana Rustam in the Tunggal Puteri event and Roslan Habil in the Solo Kreatif Putera event while the bronze was won by the Regu Putera trio of Mohd Syafwan Abdullah, Muhd Darmadiansyah and Mohd Nazir Muhqaizul.