Three-hour suspense ends in joy as Malaysian silat athlete Izzul Irfan Marzuki retains SEA Games gold

BANGKOK, Dec 17 — National pencak silat exponent Muhammad Izzul Irfan Marzuki endured a dramatic moment after having to wait more than three hours before being confirmed as having defended his gold medal in the men’s Class D (60-65 kilogrammes) category.

On the final day of the pencak silat competition at Hall 4, Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, he was initially adjudged to have lost 57-60 to host nation representative Phiraphon Mitthasan.

However, the Malaysian team lodged a protest immediately after the bout ended after Phiraphon’s foot was deemed to have stepped out of the arena while launching an attack on Muhammad Izzul.

National Silat Federation of Malaysia (Pesaka) president Datuk Megat Zulkarnain Omardin said the protest, which was accepted by the referee, resulted in the opponent being penalised 10 points.

The victory was then awarded to Muhammad Izzul with a revised score of 57-50.

“I could see it was not easy for Izzul to win the gold medal because he fought his heart out.

“I understand that when facing the host nation, it is not easy, but he deserved the gold he had also won in Phnom Penh (SEA Games 2023),” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, two other national silat exponents, Muhamad Helmi and Muhammad Amirul Hakim Jaaffar, had to settle for silver medals.

Muhammad Amirul lost 37–85 to Thailand’s Areef Arli in the men’s Class E (65-70kg) event.

Muhamad Helmi went down 52–63 to Indonesia’s Tito Hendra Septa Kurnia in the men’s Class A (45-50kg) event.

Megat Zulkarnain also praised newcomer and women’s Class C (55-60kg) gold medallist Ummi Mashitah Hassan, who produced an impressive performance despite having taken up the sport only two years ago.

Competing in her SEA Games debut, Ummi Mashitah delivered a stunning display by defeating host representative Anuntaya Nyompan 104-88.

He added that he was grateful the national silat camp surpassed the two-gold target set, bringing home a total of three gold medals overall.

Last Sunday, Nur Syafiqah Hamzah won the women’s individual event after accumulating 9.960 points. — Bernama