Four RI fighters fall at first hurdle
Four RI fighters fall at first hurdle
Moch. N Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Cebu City, Cebu
Only two of the six national team pencak silat fighters
competing on Wednesday advanced to the second round of
competition at Cebu Coliseum.
On the first day of competition, Yohanes Edison Buru, in the
men's 60-65 kilograms B division, beat Zan Lon Khot of Myanmar 3-
2.
His hard-fought win was followed by the 5-0 romp of Dian
Krisanto over Bruneian Ak Mohd Khairul Alimin in the men's 45-50
kgs A division.
But Lutfan Budi Santosa, M. Shodiq, Salmawati, and Fentje R.
Maengkom disappointed as they lost at the first hurdle, with
three of them failing to score.
Lutfan (50-55 kgs B) lost 0-5 to the Philippines' Chrisopher
F. Yabut, and M. Shodiq (55-60 kgs A) was defeated 2-3 by
Vietnamese Nguyen Ba Trinh.
Women's fighter Salmawati (45-50 kgs A) was unable to score
against Vietnamese Le Thi Hang to lose 0-5 and men's fighter
Fentje (70-75 kgs F) lost with the same score to Marniel Dimla.
"So far the results are still within our expectation,"
national pencak silat team manager M. Taufik said.
He also felt Fentje should have won his bout.
The Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) has targeted
six golds from the Games.
"We want to take two golds from the women's division, three
from the men's and one from artistic," Taufik said.
He added that the development of pencak silat was very good in
the region, with athletes from other neighboring countries now up
to par with Indonesians, where the sport originated.
"It is equal now in terms of technique and stamina," he said.
In the 2003 SEA Games, host Vietnam triumphed in the overall
standings of the pencak silat competition with 12 gold and five
bronze, while Indonesia finished second with four gold, five
silver and seven bronze.
"Now, the situation is different. Philippines is growing but
not so fast in pencak silat, while Vietnam cannot get the
benefits of being the host like they did in the 2003 SEA Games,"
Taufik said.
"Hopefully we could get the six golds, but to surpass our
target is a bit difficult due to stiff competition among
participants."