World Pencak Silat Championships Penang

The 2004 World Pencak Silat Championships were organised and hosted by the Silat Federation of Singapore (PERSISI) and supervised by the World governing body, Persekutuan Pencak Silat Antarabangsa (PERSILAT). The competitions had the support of the Singapore Sports Council and were held at Bedok Sports Hall in Singapore from 12-19 December 2004.

The event was attended by 20 countries and about 300 young athletes from Asia, Europe, America the Middle East and the Pacific and received extensive news coverage, both by newspapers and TV stations from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Article in 'Streats'

The UK team was joined for the opening night by Bapak Bambang Wasito Adi, Education Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in London and Advisor to the PSF UK.

Bapak Aidinal Alrashid & Bapak Bambang Wasito Adi
with the UK Team

For the first time at a Silat Championships, the registration and medical check included a drug test, which all competitors had to pass.


Medical check and Weighing-in

The Opening Ceremony commenced with the arrival of the guests of honour, which included Prof Dr Yacoob Ibrahim, Minister for the Environment & Water Resources and Minister in Charge of Muslim Affairs, Mr Oon Jin Teik, Chief Executive of Singapore Sports Council and Bapak Eddie Nalapraya, President of PERSILAT. Bapak Aidinal Alrashid, PSF UK President, and Bapak Bambang Wasito Adi, Education Attaché, Indonesian Embassy, sat with the other dignitaries during the ceremony.


VIPs at Opening Ceremony

Following welcome speeches by Mr Abdullah Shafiie B Sidik, President of PERSISI and Bapak Eddie Nalapraya, President of PERSILAT, the traditional handing over of the 'Keris Adat' was performed, to signify peace and sportsmanship during the championships.

Prof Dr Yacoob Ibrahim then met all the contingents and presented the Team Manager of each participating country with with a plaque in commemoration of the first World Pencak Silat Championships to be held in Singapore.

Prof Dr Yacoob Ibrahim presenting commemoration plaque to
Karin Langle, Team Manager of the UK Team

The 8th World Pencak Silat Championships were declared officially open by Professor Ibrahim. Young pesilat from the 'Singa Silat Team' and pesilat from a German demonstration team gave Silat performances and Guru Hj Abdul Rahim B Rashad then performed the traditional opening of the competition arena. This signified the start of the tournament, and the first two matches of the Championships were held between Mohamad Saifullah of Singapore and Mehmet Kapukaya of Turkey in male Class D, and between Mohamed Ridzuan of Singapore and Mohd Neezam of Malaysia in Male Class F. The two VIP matches rounded off the Opening Ceremony, and lent an air of anticipation for the competitions which would start the following day.

Silat performances by Singa Silat Team and by demonstration team from Germany

Competition events took place in the afternoons and evenings of each day and following is a brief outline of the fights of the young athletes from the UK:

Match Elimination Rounds:

Female Class A:
Anita Khorugdharry (UK) vs Aangkana Aunkasiwet (Thailand)

From the first round, it was evident that the height advantage of Anita’s opponent would cause problems for the British pesilat. Unable to get close enough to execute her usual techniques, Anita was unable to match her opponent’s point scoring. Anita made persistent attempts to score points and to take her opponent down, but was unable to overcome the experienced Thai fighter, who won the match 4:1.

Male Class B:
Sean Kardar (UK) vs Muhd Nor Sarhan (Singapore)

Point scoring in the first round was quite even, both fighters seeking to gauge their opponent’s skill. By the second round the Singaporean was more confident, and scored more points with successful kicks. In the last round both athletes gave their all, winning points with kicks and blows, but in the last seconds Sean’s opponent managed a successful take-down with a back sweep, tipping the balance of scoring in his favour.

Female Class C:
Hannah Alrashid (UK) vs Nur Dinniyati Bte Md Jumaili (Singapore)

Hannah began confidently, but Nur, a Gold medallist in the UK International Championships, managed to take her down in the opening seconds. Hannah replied with an impressive array of counter attacks and kicks, and enthusiasm in the crowd grew as this became an intense and closely matched fight. Though point scoring was fairly even in rounds one and two, the Singaporean won more points in the third, so that Hannah lost the fight to Singapore.

Male Class D:
Waqqas Akhtar (UK) vs Baseer Al-Bukhati (Yemen)

Waqqas demonstrated excellent use of take down techniques, flooring his opponent many times in the first round. The confidence this gave him allowed Waqqas to control and dominate the following rounds, giving him a clear win over his opponent.

Male Class E:
Amar Al-Etabi (UK) vs Denis Scholten (Netherlands)

Amar’s opponent adopted an offensive strategy from the start, leaving Amar with a lower points score. However, in the second round Amar changed his tactics, and drew his opponent in, allowing him to execute two takedowns, and so increase his score. The final round saw a committed effort by both fighters, but overall Amar had scored more points, and thus secured a place in the next round.

Male Class F:
Arash Adam Adami (UK) vs Kristof van Bladel (Belgium)

Having won the first round due to the disqualification of Roman Mironchenko of Russia, Arash went on to the second round. In his match against Kristof Van Bladel of Belgium, Arash adopted offensive strategies from the start of the match, but his opponent, the current European Champion, demonstrated his competition experience by defending and attacking well. Arash gained points, but was taken down, and a loss of stamina in the final round meant that he didn't score enough points and he lost the match.

Female Class O:
Zainab Ganiyu-Dada (UK) vs Jane Lorain Tawjoeram (Surinam)

A relatively inexperienced but talented competitor, Zainab had won Silver at the Swiss Open Championships earlier in the year. The British pesilat seemed to dominate the match from the beginning, throwing a catalogue of combination techniques, and gaining points in each round. Her opponent however maintained her composure and also managed to score points, so that the match was judged to have been won 3:2 by Zainab, securing her a place in the semi final.

Male Class O:
Irfan Alrashid (UK) vs Samuel Mallo (Indonesia)

Irfan surprised Samuel, the current Gold medallist from the South East Asia Games, by taking him down in the first round, but the Indonesian’s tactics of forcing his opponent backwards meant that, following 2 warnings, Irfan received 5 penalty points for moving out of the ring. This was an exciting match to watch and, despite the vast experience of his rival, Irfan was judged by 1 of the 5 referees to have won the bout. Samuel went on to win Gold becoming the new World Champion in the male open category.

Quarter Finals:

Male Class A:
Adrien Kardar (UK) vs Ha Anh Tuan (Vietnam)

Adrien quickly saw that his opponent was trying to draw him in, so as to take him down, and adopted a cautious strategy. Both athletes scored points with takedowns, kicks and punches, and each round proved to be closely matched. The competition however was judged to have been won 5:0 by Vietnam, which was a great disappointment to Adrien and his team mates.

Male Class D:
Waqqas Akhtar (UK) vs Ahmad Shahril Zainuddin (Malaysia)

From the first round, Ahmad Shahril, the current world champion demonstrated his competition experience, and executed his techniques with speed. Waqqas made determined efforts to win points, but his opponent’s speed frustrated many of his attempts. Despite fighting the world champion, Waqqas gave a characteristically spirited performance, but the referees voted 5:0 for the Malaysian.

Male Class E:
Amar Al-Etabi (UK) vs Kasman (Indonesia)

The first round began well, with Amar using effective combination techniques, keeping him level on points with his rival. His opponent however was an experienced fighter, and while Amar seemed to lose stamina in the second and third rounds, the Indonesian continued to gain points, and was judged to have won the match by 5:0.

Semi Finals:

Female Class O:
Zainab Ganiyu-Dada (UK) vs Zuhrah Mohamed Sabri (Singapore)

With a far more experienced opponent than in her first fight, Zainab made persistent efforts to score points. The offensive strategy of the Singaporean meant Zainab was unable to execute all her Silat techniques, and so failed to equal Zuhrah’s score. The match was won 5:0 by Singapore.

Seni Competitions:

The standard of performance in all of the Seni categories had obviously been raised, as technically accurate and precisely timed performances were given. This was especially shown by the Vietnamese in the male team Regu category, and by Indonesia in the female Jurus Tunggal category.

Jurus Tunggal (Single category)


Empty hand	With golok	With tongkat

Ganda (Double category)


Ganda compeitions

Jurus Regu (Team category)


Jurus Regu compeitions

Results of the Seni Competitions:

Jurus Tunggal (male):	Jurus Tunggal (female):
Vietnam 449	Malaysia 474
Singapore 447	Singapore 435
Indonesia 447	Vietnam 435

Jurus Regu (male):	Jurus Regu (female):
Vietnam 468	Indonesia 567
Indonesia 449	Singapore 555
Malaysia 446	Malaysia 551

Jurus Ganda (male):	Jurus Ganda (female):
Indonesia 561	Indonesia 567
Malaysia 561	Singapore 555
Vietnam 558	Malaysia 551

The full results of the World Pencak Silat Championships can be found here.

The closing ceremony started with the arrival of the guest of honour, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Health & Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports.

Following another delightful performance by the youngsters of the Singa Silat Team, the competition arena was closed in the traditional manner by Guru Amja B Kasim. The awards for the best male and best female pesilat went to Muhammad Yusoff Shah and Saiedah Bte Said, both from Singapore. The team with the highest medal tally was Vietnam, and the Overall Champion prize was awarded to the Vietnamese Federation President.

Zainab Ganiyu-Dada was awarded the Bronze medal in female class O, making her the second British competitor to bring a medal from the World Championships.


Zainab wins Bronze