Singapore Silat Athletes off to a good start on first day of the 8th Southeast Asian Pencak Silat Championships
Iqbal Abdul Rahman in action for Singapore. PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
25 February 2022, Singapore – Team Singapore's silat exponents put up impressive showings in the opening day of the 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championship at the Singapore Sports Hub's OCBC Arena.
Singapore’s Muhammad Iqbal Bin Abdul Rahman, Singapore's first competing athlete of the day, scored an impressive 9.940 in the Senior Artistic Male Single semi-final to advance to the final on Sunday.
He will compete against Asep Yuldan Sani of Indonesia in the final.
The 28 year-old, competing in his first tournament since the pandemic began, admitted he wasn't feeling his best but still gave it his all. He said: "I’m proud of what I did today. It wasn’t really at the standard where I can usually tell myself I did very well, but I’m quite satisfied with where I am now."
"Moving forward from today, I just want to keep myself fit. I’m looking forward to the next performance, which is my final on Sunday. I want to push even harder than today."
PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
Sheik Ferdous Earns Last Four Berth
World champion Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alau’ddin featured in the Senior Match Male G (75-80kg) category, but his path to booking a place in the last four was far from easy.
Ferdous made to work hard to secure his 17-15 win over Indonesia’s I Kadek Adi Budiasta in the quarter-final.
Starting strong with a 7-2 lead, Ferdous saw his opponent make a comeback, leveling the scores in the final round.
Ferdous shared: "I was prepared but I guess my nerves got to me a little because I was very shaky. I got a few points in the first round, lost the second round and thought to myself, ‘I can’t lose this, if not I’m going home with no medal.’
"So I plucked up my courage, got that one kick in and that got me ahead of him. I’m really glad I won and I’m hoping to do better in the semi-final."
Ferdous will next face Vietnam’s Nguyen Tan Sang, and will be taking valuable lessons from his quarter-final bout into that match.
"There’s no room for nerves at all. I think (Nguyen) might be my strongest opponent in this class," added Ferdous, the world champion in the Class I (85-90kg) category.
"We’ve never fought each other before, so it’s a surprise for both of us. Nevertheless, I’ll be preparing myself well for this upcoming match. I hope I can perform way better than this and make it to the final."