SINGAPORE – Up against Indonesia’s world artistic silat champion Syarif Suhaimi, Singapore’s Mustafar Isa delivered a near-perfect performance in Dubai to clinch his first Asian individual title on Saturday.
Competing at the Nov 9-12 Asian Pencak Silat Championships, he scored 9.940 in the artistic male solo creative final to Syarif’s 9.430, before claiming his second gold in the team event.
His achievement marked a bountiful third day of competition for Singapore’s silat exponents, who claimed four golds and a silver to add to the bronze from the day before.
At the 2022 edition in Kashmir, the Republic won nine golds, four silvers and six bronzes.
Mustafar told The Sunday Times: “It was a blessing to have won two gold medals as it shows that my training with my team paid off.
“I had to really push myself for my solo creative (event) as I knew I was going up against the world champion. I had to be really ready and I gave him a good fight.”
The 27-year-old, who clinched bronze in the same event in 2022, said he had focused on getting familar with the weapon and explosiveness of his flips.
The artistic male team comprising Mustafar, Nazrul Kamal and Affiz Zakri also retained their gold medal after scoring 9.960 to edge out the Philippines (9.905).
Mustafar added: “I was happy that I was able to be at my freshest for the team because that’s my main event and we needed to win this at all costs.
“We really did not want to disappoint our family, friends, coach and, most importantly, ourselves because we invested everything in it.”
He is also hopeful that the team’s results will earn them a Sport Excellence Scholarship ahead of the World Pencak Silat Championships in Singapore in December.
“It is one step closer for us to get the spexScholarship,” he said. “Just because we won, we can never be complacent. There’re still areas for us to improve and grow together as a team. We will be better for the upcoming world championships.”
Singapore’s two other golds at the Asian Championships came from defending champion Iqbal Rahman in the artistic male single and the artistic female team of Iffah Batrisyia Noh, Amirah Sahrin and Nur Ashikin Zulkifli.
After claiming a historic gold medal at the Cambodia SEA Games, the female trio were determined to claim back-to-back Asian titles. And they did so in style, scoring 9.970 in their routine to beat the Philippines (9.880) in the final.
Ashikin, who also won a silver medal on her debut in the female solo creative category, said: “After winning gold at the SEA Games, I felt our performance has improved a lot and we felt more confident.
“We analysed our performances through videos in trainings and worked on our synchronisation, floor plans and strength.
“We knew our goal, which was to retain our Asian Championships title, and we had to work towards it.”
On her individual performance, she added: “This year’s Asian Championships mean a lot to me as I competed in two categories.
“I competed in the solo creative as I wanted to try something new. I couldn’t be more proud of myself and my teammates for achieving this result.”
More golds will be up for grabs in the final day of competition on Sunday in the match classes, which will feature the likes of Singaporean world champions Sheik Farhan Sheik Alau’ddin, Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alau’ddin and Nurul Suhaila Mohamed Saiful.
