10 finals contested on Day 2 of the 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championships, as Singapore clinches top spot in four
Siti Khadijah Binte Mohd Shahrem in action in the Class E Final against Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Cam Nhi. PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
27 February 2022, Singapore – Team Singapore took four golds of the 10 finals contested on day two of the 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championship at Singapore Sports Hub's OCBC Arena, with the day ending with Singapore’s Siti Khadijah Binte Mohd Shahrem clinching a nail-biting 22-21 win in the Class E (Above 65kg-60kg) final.
Siti Khadijah Vows to Train Harder, Humble in Victory
The 20-year-old Singaporean, who triumphed over Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Cam Nhi, shared: “I'm new to this class and I was confident to fight because I'm in preparation for the SEA Games. But of course, I think I could have done better and there's more room for improvement."
Singapore's 20 year-old Siti Khadijah Binte Mohd Shahrem in action at the 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championship. PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
"I'm not that satisfied with my performance but I'll definitely train harder after this, and I'll come back for more. It's a good experience and I'm grateful for the opportunity,” she said.
The Senior Match Female E final was the last of 10 finals contested today.
Malaysia's Nur Syfiqah Clinches Senior Artistic Female Singles
Nur Syafiqah binti Hamzah of Malaysia won the first event of the day, scoring 9.93 points to secure the Senior Artistic Female Single title. Singaporean Siti Nazurah Binte Md Yusoff had a score of 9.895.
Syafiqah said: “I feel very happy. I wasn’t really looking at the results. It’s been a long time since a regional competition was held so this is a good preparation for the SEA Games. I have a target for SEA Games this year and I aim to bring back a medal for Malaysia.”
(L-R) Iffah Batrisyia Binte Noh, Nur Ashikin Binte Zulkifli, Amirah Binte Sahrin of Team Singapore in action at the 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championship. PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
Gold for Singapore's Senior Artistic Female Team
Singapore won four golds today, starting with the Senior Artistic Female Team title. The winning trio of Amirah Binte Sahrin, Iffah Batrisyia Binte Noh and Nur Ashikin Binte Zulkifli scored 9.945 points.
Iffah, 19, believes it was one of the team's better performances but felt there was room for improvement: “That was definitely one of our better (performances) but not the best that we can do. So we will take this as a learning point and do better for our future competitions."
"Our synchronisation is still not there compared to powerhouses like Indonesia and Vietnam. Today's win means a lot to us because this is our first competition together."
Sheik Farhan Bin Sheik Alau'ddin of Singapore (left) contesting the Class J semi-final with Muhamad Robial Bin Sobri of Malaysia. PHOTO: SINGAPORE SILAT FEDERATION
The 8th Southeast Asia Pencak Silat Championship is the first competition in which the new International Pencak Silat Competition Rules and Regulations are in place. The rules, last amended in 2013, have been updated to reflect the development of martial arts around the world. Some key changes include allowing techniques which were previously not permitted, such as pulling and grabbing to perform dropping techniques.
Singapore silat exponent Sheik Farhan Sheik Alau’ddin, who won his Class J (Above 90kg-95kg) semi-final 29-14 over Malaysian Mohamad Robial Bin Sobri, said of the new rules: “To be honest, overall my fighting strategy was about the same. I didn’t actively try to score with the new pulling techniques during the match as I don’t think I can do it very effectively yet."
"It’s a 50-50 technique, so I don’t want to apply it and fail and drop points, which is what happened to my opponent. But I think it’s good that I could defend against it and will aim to improve more."