Sukma XXI: Joy for Sarawak’s silat team as new faces bag three gold, one bronze

MIRI (Aug 20): New faces in Sarawak’s silat team proved their mettle when they bagged three gold and one bronze medal in the 21st Malaysia Games (Sukma XXI) 2024 at Miri Indoor Stadium today.

The first gold was won by Ahmad Daniel Abdullah, Mohammad Nur Azlisham Mohd Ali, and Suhaiqal Suhardie in the Jurus Wajib (Regu) men’s category in the final match against Selangor.

The second gold came from Nuradriani Fitri Abdullah, Nur Alfianiz Jordan, and Vivina Anging Johntan in the Jurus Wajib (Regu) women’s category in their final match against Johor.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Shamiezal Shapian contributed Sarawak’s third gold in the Men’s Creative Solo category in his final match against Muhammad Faris Zakwan Mohd Rizuan from Federal Territories.

The bronze medal came from Zureen Zulyka Zaidel in the Solo Baku (Tunggal) category, after she lost to Johor’s Nur Syafiqah Aqilah in the semi-final.

“We are grateful to God because our efforts for seven months training in Sibu and Miri seemed to be bearing positive results.

“God willing, we are still waiting for the next categories and we are hoping for bigger surprises,” head coach Fadzil Jamain told reporters.

He pointed out that Mohd Asri Mohd Zaki is the sole Sarawak silat team member who has competed before.

“But I am confident in the training process. Our athletes have been working hard and I am sure they are capable of delivering gold,” he said.

“We do not disclose the medals we are targeting because for me personally as a head coach, I aim for all my athletes to win gold medals, but this will depend on the respective athlete’s ‘rezeki’ (provisions from God).”

Fadzil said originally there was only one athlete for the women’s Jurus Wajib category, but the other two were taken in after they were dropped from the athletics category.

However, they proved that was the right decision with their gold-medal win.