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Tag: Sheik Alau’ddin

  • Five-Gold Target For Singapore’s Silat Exponents

    Five-Gold Target For Singapore’s Silat Exponents

    The Singapore Silat Federation’s (SSF) Chief Executive Officer Sheik Alau’ddin is confident that his athletes will be able to deliver a best-ever result this year in the upcoming SEA Games at Kuala Lumpur. Although the traditional silat powerhouse Indonesia, hosts Malaysia and Vietnam are expected to put in strong performances, Sheik Alau’ddin has set a target of five gold medals from his Silat team to erase the team’s disappointment of clinching only one gold medal in the 2015 SEA Games.

    Sheik Alau’ddin is hopeful that the upcoming SEA Games will do Singapore proud and make silat recognized in the world stage which will ultimately place silat in the Olympics. To do this, Sheik Alau’ddin has proposed to the International Pencak Silat Federation to introduce an electronic competition and scoring system to improve the way silat’s tanding events are scored and officiated. The system is modelled after taekwondo, which introduced headgear and chest guards with proximity and impact sensors, as well as footpads lined with magnets to activate sensors, at the Rio Olympic Games last year.

    He stressed that the sport needs to change if it wants to build a strong case for inclusion at the Olympics. “Ultimately, we have to make changes for improvement. I’m sick and tired of all this. We have to make changes, the current scoring system is not clear cut or transparent. It will definitely help our chances at the Olympics if this is implemented. That way, everybody will be happy. The athletes train and fight, and if the system is correct, you cannot accuse the judges anymore.”

     

    Source: Today

  • Singapore Silat Chief: Fear Of Losing Messed Up Fighters’ Minds

    Singapore Silat Chief: Fear Of Losing Messed Up Fighters’ Minds

    The Singapore silat team won eight medals, including a gold, at the recent SEA Games. But the team has not been faring well in the past few editions compared to their glory years in 1999 and 2003.

    One by one, their athletes faltered at the semi-final stages of the Games, except for Muhammad Nur Alfian Juma’en. He defended his gold in the individual Class F finals after beating world champion Tran Dinh Nam from Vietnam, and famously shed tears on the podium, overwhelmed by the moment.

    Nur Alfian said: “The thing that was running through my mind was that everything was worth it. Like the sacrifices that I’ve done in terms of diet, school, time with family and the training was very tough. To be able to achieve the win, I can’t describe the emotions.”

    The 18-year-old first took up silat when he was five. Initially it was just for fun, but now, he is part of the elite team which has over 22 athletes.

    “The main thing is discipline because you have to take care of your diet. And you must also give 100 per cent in training every single time,” Nur Alfian said.

    He was one of 13 silat athletes fielded at the recent Games and the team ended with a haul of one gold, one silver and six bronze.

    Mr Sheik Alau’ddin, head of the Singapore Silat Federation, said: “I asked them, ‘What is the problem with you guys? Why are you so scared?’ And they said ‘I’m scared of losing. I’m scared because I might fall.’ So, all these things messed up their minds. The main priority now is to have the mental strength, how we need to develop individual athletes.”

    The team seems to fare better at other international and regional competitions. Singapore was crowned overall champions in the 5th Southeast Asian Pencak Silat Championships in April, defeating powerhouses like Malaysia and Indonesia along the way. The team received seven gold, two silver and 10 bronze in the competition. And Singapore’s silat exponents won one gold, three silver, and three bronze at the world championships in Phuket earlier in January.

    At the SEA Games though, they have only bagged four gold in the past five editions.

    Sheik Alau’ddin said the sport’s glory years at the Games were in 1999 and 2003. They had won three gold medals each in those years. But he said the sport is not losing its shine.

    “I’m not worried about all that. It’s just the individual athletes, whether they’re hungry enough, whether they want to be on the highest podium,” he said. “You see, like Alfian, he fought in the finals and his toe was split open and there’s blood everywhere. If it’s someone who is not strong enough and they look at the blood, they might not continue.”

    This hunger to win will be put to the test when they compete at the International Malaysia Open Silat Championship in September.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Sheik Farhan Is World Silat Champion

    Sheik Farhan Is World Silat Champion

    A quarter of a century after his father was crowned world champion, Singapore national silat exponent Sheik Farhan Sheik Alau’ddin has also followed suit.

    Yesterday (Jan 16), the 17-year-old, son of two-time world champion Sheik Alau’ddin, secured Singapore its first gold medal at the 2015 Pencak Silat World Championships in Phuket, Thailand after overcoming Vietnam’s Mach Quoc Hung 3-2 in the final of the Class J (90-95kg) category.

    He had beaten Malaysia’s Azrul Abdullah 4-1 in the semi-finals. Singapore also won three silver and three bronze medals at the meet.

    Sheik Alau’ddin, who is also chief executive officer of the Singapore Silat Federation, had won the first of his two world titles at the World Championships in the Netherlands in 1990, before adding a second crown in Thailand four years later.

    Among those to congratulate the Sheik Farhan on his achievement was Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong.

    “Great achievement for someone who just recovered from a shin injury and who’s competing for the first time in the tournament,” Wong wrote on his Facebook page.

    “Farhan’s father is former silat world champion Sheik Alau’ddin, and I’m glad he’s continuing the family tradition of excellence in this sport!”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com