(Pic, Top) Norleyermah Hj Raya
won bronze in the women's seni
tunggal for Brunei. (Pic, Above)
Norleyermah (R) with Pg HJ
Tejudin Pg Md Salleh, the country's
seni coach. Pictures:BT/ Infofoto

PG HJ Tejudin Pg Md Salleh feels Brunei's pencak silat seni (artistic) team could have won more medals at the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games here if not for biased refereeing.

The country ended the competition with three bronze medals, and they were all from the seni disciplines. None of the Sultanate's three entries in tanding (competition) made it past the first round.

Unlike in tanding events, the six seni categories men's and women's singles, doubles and trio are all highly subjective, making for some intense debates after the winners are separated from the losers.

"It's like this ... Right now it's Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam that are challenging (for medals). It was the same during the last Pencak Silat World Championships in Jakarta last December, and it was the same heading into the SEA Games," said Pg Hj Tejudin, the country's seni coach.

"But the problem was the (five-member) jury ... I think they favoured the hosts. I hear there have been some protests made by other countries, but I'm not sure.

"I am also unhappy that Brunei did not have anyone on the jury.

"I saw two Europeans on the jury ... That's not normal for a regional event like this, where the jurors would be from surrounding countries. This is the first time I've seen such a thing," added the coach.

Pg Hj Tejudin said Indonesia had their eye on 10 of the 18 gold medals up for grabs this year and they weren't too far off.

A large portion of their nine gold medals came from them winning all six of the seni events.

The hosts would top the table with nine gold, five silver and two bronze medals, with Vietnam second on six gold, seven silver and five bronze medals. Malaysia came in third with a tally of three, one and seven.

Brunei's trio of third-place finishes put them a distant seventh, a spot they share with Myanmar, who also clinched three bronze medals. Laos propped the nine-country table with one bronze.

Norleyermah Hj Raya won bronze in the women's seni tunggal (artistic single) after finishing with 445 behind Indonesia's Tuti Winarni (456) and Vietnam's Thi Thuy Nguyen (447).

She went on to combine with sister Norleyharyanti and Nurul Aimi Amalina Zainidi in the women's regu (trio) to finish with bronze on 449. Indonesia's Kikih Dyahayuwati, Djuriah and Yuli Anriani secured gold with 459, followed by Vietnam's Thi Thuy Nguyen, Pham Thi Ha and Thi Quyen Ngo on 458.

The men's regu team of Abdul Malik Hj Ladi, Juffri Junaidi and Abd Rahman Hj Asli got Brunei's third bronze medal after recording 441 points, with Indonesia's Abdul Muqit Irsyat, Exa Purbianto and Zakki Imaduddin taking gold with 462 and Vietnam's Nguyen Thanh Tung, Nguyen Tien Tai and Nguyen Huu Tuan claiming silver with 455.

The biggest disappointment for the team, and perhaps for the country, was the fact that 2009 gold medallist Hj Md Khairul Bahrin Hj Duraman didn't even finish in the top-three this time around. He was the country's only gold medallist at the Laos SEA Games two years ago and it was expected that he would at least grab a medal here. But despite ending tied on 448 points with Malaysia's Tajul Zaman, it was the latter who would make a trip to the podium.

"They both finished on 448 and with the same time, 3:00. But the Malaysian won because of the jurors, who just cut or add marks for no reason," opined Pg Hj Tejudin. "If someone makes a mistake, how can one juror deduct points but the rest don't?"

Courtesy from Brunei Times