BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Thursday, August 6, 2015 - The Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council (MS ABDB) were declared overall champions of the Brunei Darussalam National Pencak Silat Championship last night.
MS ABDB bagged six gold, four silver and one bronze in the championship and Belait claimed second with five gold, one silver and four bronze. Brunei-Muara managed third place with four gold, six silver and one bronze.
Present as the guest of honour to award the winners with their respective prizes was YAM Pg Maharaja Setia Laila Diraja Sahibul Irshad Pg Anak Haji Abdul Rahim bin Pg Indera Mahkota Pg Anak (Dr) Kemaludin Al-Haj.
MS ABDB’s coach Cpl (A) Romzi bin Minuddin was delighted with the result which he boiled down to their experience.
“I am very happy with the team’s overall achievement although we didn’t enter all the categories,” he told The Brunei Times.
“We only had two weeks of intensive training prior to the tournament. However, we are lucky enough to have a strong squad comprised of ex-national and current national athletes.
“Experience was the key to our success,” said MS ABDB’s coach.
Tanding Class F (70-75kg) winner L/Cpl Muhammad Kifli bin Haji Hamzah, a member of the national team, told The Brunei Times that “he was very proud to be one of the winners for the team”.
“Our success is mainly because of our overall fitness, technique, experience and teamwork,” added Kifli.
Last night’s event also saw Belait’s Abdul Rahim bin Sofian emerge as winner of the men’s tanding Class E (65-70kg) category after beating MS ABDB’s Pvt Amali bin Malik
Held in conjunction with His Majesty’s 69th birthday celebration, the two biggest prizes of the tournament – the His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam Cekak Asli and Kuntau Challenge Trophy – were awarded to MS ABDB’s Sgt Januddin bin Haji Junaidi and Temburong’s Md Amrull bin Haji Ariffin respectively.
Januddin defeated Brunei-Muara’s Nor Ariffin bin Haji Tunjang in the Cekak Asli final while the Kuntau final saw Amrull achieve victory over MS ABDB’s Abd Rahman bin Haji Asli.
More than 100 silat exponents from Brunei-Muara, Tutong, Belait, Temburong, MS ABDB and the Brunei Darussalam School Sports Council (MSSBD) competed for top honours in the annual competition.
Courtesy of The Brunei Times
