Complaints of biased judging at Asiad silat competition
Pair who win S'pore's first silat silvers and others say judges favour Indonesia, who have won all eight golds
They had just made history as Singapore's first two athletes to win silver medals in pencak silat at the Asian Games.
But Nurzuhairah Yazid and Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alau'ddin were still fuming when they spoke to The Straits Times over the phone hours after their respective milestones.
The pair shared a common gripe: what they felt was biased judging.
Nurzuhairah, 20, earned the Republic's first silat silver, after finishing second in the women's tunggal (singles) artistic category yesterday morning at the Padepokan Pencak Silat TMII in Jakarta.
She scored 445 points for her routine, just one point ahead of bronze medallist Cherry May Regaldo, and a whopping 22 behind gold medallist Puspa Arumsari of Indonesia, who scored 467.
Hours later, Ferdous, 22, also settled for the silver after he was beaten 5-0 by another Indonesian, Aji Bangkit Pamungkas, in his Class I (85-90kg) final.
Still sore over his defeat, Ferdous told The Straits Times: "This is the first time I have made a final in a major Games, so it's something to feel good about, I guess. But I was expecting to win gold, and expecting fair judging, at the very least."
He pointed to two incidents during his match with Aji, which he felt were wrong calls that favoured the home athlete.
The first was a takedown he executed on the Indonesian, which was deemed invalid as he was adjudged to have illegally pulled his opponent down.
The second incident was a kick Aji connected with as Ferdous was attempting a low takedown.
Strikes on an opponent lying on the ground are not allowed in silat, and only strikes to the trunk count for points.
Ferdous felt the kick did not satisfy these two rules, yet it was deemed valid.
Nurzuhairah also felt the scoring in her category was skewed to favour Indonesia's Puspa.
"I was the first athlete to do my routine, and the Indonesian was right after me, and when we saw the gap between the points, we were all shocked," she said.
"Then the nervousness started to creep in about whether I had done enough to win a medal. But, overall, I am satisfied with my performance because I know I did my best."
Singapore Silat Federation CEO Sheik Alau'ddin echoed the frustrations of his athletes.
"It's not only us. Many other countries are disappointed with the judging," said the former world champion. "Some countries have complained that there seems to be favouritism shown to one country. It's very sad."
Malaysian Al Jufferi Jamari, a three-time world champion who has also won four SEA Games golds, also complained of biased judging in his Class E (65-70kg) final against Indonesia's Adi Putra Komang Harik.
He was so frustrated that he was not awarded points for valid strikes that he staged a walkout seconds before the end, reported Bernama. He received the silver.
All eight silat golds awarded have gone to Indonesia.
A total of 16 golds are available, and the remaining medals will be contested tomorrow.
Singapore had won three bronzes on Sunday.
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