Faizal Eyeing For Gold At World Silat Meet

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- After winning the gold at the SEA Games in Laos in December last year, national silat exponent, Faizal Abdullah is now targeting the gold medal at the World Silat Championsip to be held in Indonesia, in July.

"I hope with the guidance of coach Cikgu Nasri Nasir, I can achieve the target of bringing back the gold medal in July," he told Bernama on Wednesday.

In preparation for the championship, Faizal is now undergoing intensive training five times a week at the National Sports Council (NSC) Gymnasium in Bukit Jalil, together with the other silat exponents.

Besides the scheduled training at the NSC, Faizal said his participation at the Belgium Silat Open Championship in May would also be used as a yardstick to gauge his preparation for the meet in Indonesia.

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Fauzi lands surprise gold in silat - and Malaysia’s 30th

POLICEMAN Mohd Fauzi Khalid rose to the occasion to win a surprise gold medal in silat and it fittingly turned out to be the 30th one for Malaysia in the 25th SEA Games.

His performance sparked a four-gold sweep by Malaysia as Faizal Abdullah, Mohd Hafiz Mahari and Emy Latip all won their final bouts.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek, National Sports Council director general Datuk Zolkples Embong and chef-de-mission Datuk Dr Ramlan Aziz were present to witness the competition, eagerly anticipating the minimum 30-gold target to be achieved in the morning.

But the bet was not on Fauzi but Faizal, who also fought in the morning’s final bouts.

Fauzi, however, stole the show by stopping the hot streak of the Vietnam team with a 5-0 win over Truong Van Mao in the men’s below 75kg silat seni final.


Super cop: Malaysia’s Mohd Fauzi Khalid celebrating after winning the gold in the men’s below 75kg silat seni yesterday.
Fauzi lost to the same fighter in the semi-finals at the Asian Martial Arts Games in Bangkok in July and his win silenced the Vietnamese supporters, who had been noisily celebrating their exponents’ victories in the first three finals.

“I saw all the top officials here but I did not know that I secured the 30th gold to help the contingent meet the target,” said the 22-year-old Fauzi.

“My total concentration was on getting the better of the Vietnamese as I lost to him in Bangkok.

”I managed to land a kick to score points in the first round and I was confident that I would get the gold.

“I did not get a medal in my first SEA Games in Korat (2007) and getting a gold here feels so good.”

Faizal did not disappoint in the men’s below 85kg final, beating Thailand’s Chanon Untakool 5-0.

Malaysia only managed to win one silver and six bronze medals in Korat.

“The current team are more focused and we were better prepared this time,” said the Faizal, a father of two, who took bronze at the previous Games.

The third gold and the 35th for the country came from Hafiz, who overcame Laotian Okhe Botsavang in the men’s below 50kg final.

Emy bagged the final gold of the day in the women’s below 60kg competition, beating Thailand’s Jutarat Noytapa.

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).

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