Indonesia dominates pencak silat world c'ships

Indonesia on Saturday dominated the martial arts division of the 2004 world pencak silat championships by collecting three gold medals out of six contested at the Bedok Sports Hall in Singapore.

The gold medals were presented by Hamdani and Mohammad Yusuf Effendi in the men's pair; Ni Nyoman Sutriwati and Kadek Wulandari in the women's pair; and Suryani, Pudji Dwi Riyanti and Mila Lusiana Megawati in the women's team.

Meanwhile, defending champion Eko Wahyudi had to be satisfied with a bronze after losing to Nguyen Viet Anh of Vietnam, and host Mohammad Zahid bin Saaban, who won gold and silver respectively.

Indonesia also failed to defend its men's team title after Hendro Wardoyo, Agus Lamun and Eko Wahyudi collected less points than the Vietnamese team. Malaysia won the bronze.

Meanwhile in the fighting division, there were only three Indonesian athletes in the final matches. Vietnamese fighters dominated that division.

Vietnam is the defending champion, holding the Hang Tuah Cup it won in Malaysia in 2002. -- Antara