M'sia hopes for golds in silat

JAKARTA (JP): The Southeast Asian (SEA) Games host Malaysia is optimistic that it can grab eight gold medals from pencak silat following its fighters good performance in the World Championships here in November.

The Malaysia Pencak Silat Association (Pesaka) chairman Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib said his fighters were on par with Indonesian and Vietnamese fighters.

"But one-sided rulings in international events including in previous Games made them crash out in the early rounds," he said as quoted by Berita Harian.

Malaysia grabbed two golds, thanks to Zakri Ibrahim and Azlinda Ahmad at the World Championships. Its best achievement in the Games was in 1989 when Malaysia, as the host, won three golds. In the 1997 Games, it went home empty-handed. (yan)