Brunei athletes off to 14th World Pencak Silat Championship in Jakarta

The national silat team are armed and ready to show their skills to the best in the business at the 14th World Pencak Silat Championship, to be held at Padepokan Pencak Silat Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, Jakarta, from Dec 12-17.

Fifteen experienced silat exponents will fly the flag for the Sultanate in Indonesia, and the Brunei Darussalam National Pencak Silat Association (Persib) vice-president hopes to surpass their previous achievements in the biennial competition.

"At the very least, we will try to get the best result since our very first participation," said Pg Hj Abd Karim Pg Hj Metassan, who will lead the contingent as team manager.

Brunei's best finish came in the 12th edition, back in 2005, when they grabbed one gold and a number of bronze medals in Penang, Malaysia.

Their last outing in Kuantan, Pahang (also in Malaysia), in 2007 produced two bronze medals courtesy of Ak Md Khairul Bahri Pg Aliumar and Norleyermah Raya.

(This year's tournament was originally scheduled to be hosted in Bali last year, only to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances).

"Only those that previously have finished on the podium have been chosen for this meet. I'm not talking about the local scene as we don't take that into account, but in international competitions," said the vice-president.

Also in the team is Hj Md Khairul Bahrin Hj Duraman, the 25th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold-medallist last December.

The 25-year-old national silat exponent is set to compete in two events: men's pencak silat tunggal, the same category that won him Brunei's lone gold medal in Laos, and ganda with partner Md Eddy Ratno Hj Abu Bakar.

The squad also boast winners of the 2nd SEA Silat Championship 2010 held from Aug 5-10 in Vietnam.

Khuzaiman Ahmad, who grabbed gold in the men's tanding Class E (65-70 kilogrammes) event in Thanh Hoa, will put his skills to the test in the Class D (60-65kg) event in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, silver-medallist Farina Afina PDP Hj Abd Jalil will also go one weight class under for the Jakarta tournament. Instead of the Class F (70-75kg) event, Farina Afina will ply her trade in the Class E tanding event.

The two are not alone in changing their event of choice. Bronze-medal winners Amirul Ahad (men's Class A 45-50kg), Mohd Amali Hj Abd Malik (men's Class B 50-55kg), Mohd Izzat Zaini (men's Class C 55-60kg) have all opted to change their weight-division.

The sole women's bronze-winner in Vietnam, Siti Zuliza Omar, will maintain her fight in the tanding women's Class C event.

Abd Malik Hj Ladi, Abd Rahman Hj Asli and Juffri Hj Junaidi will once again compete in the seni regu category, which gave them bronze at the central province of Thanh Hoa.

Other national silat exponents to compete in Indonesia are Mohd Kifli Hamzah (men's Class E) and Mohd Imanuddin Hj Ahmad (seni tunggal).

Present to see the contingent off was Pg Anak Hj Abdul Wadood Bolkiah Pg Lela Cheteria Sahibun Najabah Pg Anak Hj Abdul Aziz.

Persib president Pg Hj Mohamad Pg Hj Ludin was also in attendance.

A total of 425 silat exponents from 32 countries are expected to contest for titles at the world championship in Jakarta, including Japan, South Korea, China, France, Germany, Canada and South Africa.

Courtesy from Brunei Times