Silambam contributes 2 silver, 1 bronze to Sarawak

KUCHING: Sarawak’s silambam squad made history at the 21st Malaysia Games (SUKMA) as their non-Indian athletes has thus far contributed three medals in the competition.

On the final day of the competition today (Aug 22), 15-year-old Asyraff Aqil Mohamad Zainurrin Azm secured a silver medal in the poruthal below 55kg event.

Asyraff scored 16 points, but was defeated by Selangor’s Luthrabalan Parsuraman, who scored 27 points, earning the gold medal for Selangor.

The second medal came from 19-year-old Hani Qurratu’ain Samsudin who also won a silver medal in the women’s poruthal above 70kg event.

Hani scored 11 points but was outmatched by Penang’s Ranishaa Vasantha Kumar, who secured 23 points, paving the way for Penang to take the gold.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Nur Aleesya Zahierah Sali clinched a bronze in the women’s poruthal 60-70kg event.

For this event, Kedah’s Vinishya Pugeneswaran won the gold medal with 17 points, while Penang’s Shangeetha Baskaran took the silver with 12 points.

This afternoon, the Sarawak silambam team will continue to compete in the synchronised bare hand and synchronised weapon events.

The silambam competition, held at the Hikmah Exchange Event Centre, began on Tuesday (Aug 20) and ends today.

Silambam is a  weapon-based Indian traditional martial art and originated from Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India.

The word silambam is derived from the Tamil word ‘silambal’, meaning sound.