KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 — The Malaysian National Silat Federation (Pesaka) is targeting to win three golds from the 16 silat events Malaysia are participating in at the Hanoi SEA Games in Vietnam from May 12 to 23.

Pesaka president Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin said this is a realistic target that would do justice to the National Sports Council’s (NSC) overall targeted medal haul at the biennial games.

“The important thing is to achieve the target even if it is not high. We don’t want to play with numbers because Pesaka has to be fair to NSC in its overall medal projection.

“InsyaAllah we will bring back three gold medals for Malaysia but anything more is a bonus,” he told a news conference here today.

Megat Zulkarnain identified former world champions Mohamad Hazim Amzad (C Putra), Mohd Al Juferi Jamari (F Putra) and Siti Rahmah Mohamed Nasir (F Putri) as the gold medal prospects.

“I am confident that they can deliver despite the new rules as they are experienced exponents,” he added.

Among the new regulations introduced in 2020 to make silat more interesting like mixed martial arts are allowing Superman punches, pulling and hitting, striking at the back of the vest, backhanded blows, jumping and elbowing at vest, and locking.

He said the Malaysian silat contingent would comprise 10 silat olahraga and 12 silat seni exponents, three officials and three coaches.

“For silat olahraga, seven athletes will compete under category A (cost fully borne) and three under category B (cost to be reimbursed for a medal won) while silat seni will have seven under category A and five under category B,” he said.

Megat Zulkarnain reminded the national athletes not to take the challenge from hosts Vietnam and Thailand lightly as they have proven themselves at the Southeast Asian Pencak Silat Championship 2022 in Singapore last month.

With only two months left to the SEA Games, Megat Zulkarnain hoped the athletes would step up their training even during the month of Ramadan.

The full list of Malaysian silat exponents to Hanoi:

Silat Olahraga:

Muhammad Khairi Adib Azhar (B Putra), Mohamad Hazim Amzad (C Putra), Ahmad Atif Irsyad Ahmad Zahidi (D Putra), Mohd Al Juferi Jamari (F Putra), Mohd Fauzi Khalid (G Putra), Mohammad Amiruddin Adzmi (H Putra), Muhammad Robial Sobri (J Putra), Billage Anak Nakang (Bebas Putra), Siti Shazwana Ajak (E Putri), Siti Rahmah Mohamed Nasir (F Putri)

Silat seni:

Luqman Laji (Tunggal Putra), Nur Syafiqah Hamzah (Tunggal Putri), Muhamad Taqiuddin Hamid (Ganda Putra), Sazzlan Yuga (Ganda Putra), Nor Hamizah Abu Hassan (Ganda Putri), Nur Syazreen A Malik (Ganda Putri), Muhammad Syafiq Ibrahim (Regu Putra), Nashrul Edzam Mohd Asri (Regu Putra), Mohd Shukrillah Badrilah (Regu Putra), Fatin Ardani Zamri (Regu Putri), Siti Nur Khairunnisa Hail (Regu Putri), Merrywati Manuil (Regu Putri). — Bernama