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Kempo heroes touch down in Brunei
Wednesday, September 14, 2011


Dzulhusmie Hj Kahan Randori won
the Sultanate's only gold in the
randori (sparring) event (Class
50kg) at the SEA Games trial-run in
Jakarta last week. Picture: BT/
Yee Chun Leong

Shorinji Kempo in Brunei is definitely on the way up!

The national Shorinji Kempo Kenshis have made it two out of two for Brunei.

With the sport being introduced only earlier this year, the team have bagged gold medals in all two of their outings so far.

Their latest achievement was a one gold, two silver and two bronze medals haul at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games trial-run in Jakarta last week.

Their first outing was the Shorinji Kempo Indonesia Open in Makassar, Indonesia where they returned home with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the July 22-24 event.

The sport has been shortlisted to represent Brunei at the 26th SEA Games in Indonesia in November.

The Brunei Darussalam Shorinji Kempo Federation (Perkeb) had sent eight athletes to the Sept 9-11 event at the Ciracas Sports Complex in East Jakarta, Indonesia, with five of them making trips to the podium.

Dzulhusmie Hj Kahan Randori was the best athlete for the Sultanate after he won the only gold in the randori (sparring) event (Class 50kg).

Rafidah Hj Rosli and Mohd Shamsul Makmun finished second in the embu pasangan (artistic team) mixed yudansha (black belt) and combined with Muhammad Ali-Rashid Hj Mohd Alipah and Pg Hj Mohd Rudiwasni Pg Hj Mohd Daud in the embu beregu (group) yudansha for the other silver.

Pg Hj Mohd Rudiwasni also won bronze in the randori (Class 70kg) event, with the other bronze coming from Mohd Shamsul and Muhammad Ali-Rashid in the embu pasangan yudansha.

Despite winning the gold medal, Dzulhusmie believes that there is plenty of room for improvement in his game.

"I still need to further improve especially on my attacking. It was a little difficult especially since there were a lot of supporters for the home side," said Dzulhusmie, during an interview with The Brunei Times, upon arrival at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday.

"My coach kept me calm by words of encouragement that really helped a lot in winning the gold medal," he said.

"I'm really excited and happy that I won the gold medal and I'm looking forward for more," added the 27-year-old.

Mohd Shamsul felt that they have learned plenty from the competition and that the team will continue to improve.

"I felt like I've been improving from fitness and technique. It was challenging especially against the Indonesians but I believe we all will learn from the tournament," he said.

"Overall I'm satisfied with the results because we have all put in the work even during the fasting month," added the 32-year-old.

Major Md Talip Hj Mohd Tahir, the first vice-president of Perkeb, who travelled with the team was happy with the results.

"They are showing steady improvement in their performance as they have been working very hard," said the Major.

"Indonesia are the ones to beat and our athletes have shown no fear and good confidence when going up against them.

"They have learnt some new techniques after the previous tournament and it has shown from their training that their fitness and skills have all gone up," he added.

Apart from the hosts and Brunei, the three-day competition also saw Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Timor Leste and Vietnam in action.

Courtesy from Brunei Times