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KORAT, Thailand: They set out to win three golds in Korat, Thailand, but round by round, event after event, the fighters fell.
In the end, the 12-strong Singapore silat team at the 24th SEA Games in Korat only collected one gold medal and a bronze.
On Wednesday, Mohd Noor Rafili Mohd Ramli stood strongest in the men's tanding Class F (70kg-75kg), crushing Vietnam's Dinh Cong Song in the final.
Earlier, the 27-year-old had received a bye all the way into the last four, where he defeated Thailand's Kaenjanbai Prajaksin 4-1 to make the gold medal bout.
On paper it looked a compelling match-up with reigning world champion Dinh, but Rafili used lightning quick attacks to clinch a 5-0 win over his opponent.
Said Rafili: "The fight against the Vietnamese was tough … he's the world champion and had won the title two months ago. There was also a lot of pressure being the only Singaporean left in the finals."
The win was Rafili's first at the Games after two previous attempts, in 1999 and 2001. The feat is all the more special as he had only returned to the national fold in 2005, after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament during the 2002 World Championships.
He said: "I'm really ecstatic about winning the gold medal. I've been waiting for it since 1999 in Brunei."
Nur As'shikeen Amran was the only other medallist in the team, after her bronze in the women's tanding Class A (45kg-50kg) and inevitably, questions about the team's poor performance will crop up.
While two-time world champion and 2005 SEA Games gold medallist Muhammad Imran Abdul Rahman was dropped just before the team left for Korat because of poor attendance at training sessions, the silat outfit did feature 2004 world champion Saiedah Said and four bronze medallists from the 2007 World Championships.
In 2005, the team delivered one gold, three silver and seven bronzes, while the 2003 edition saw three gold, two silver and 10 bronzes brought home.
Nevertheless, SSF chief executive director Sheik Alau'ddin Yacoob Marican stood by his team, when he said: "Overall, our athletes performed well, especially Asadullah, Shakir, Saifullah, Rafili, As'shikeen and Saiedah. The rest need a lot more training mentally and physically.
"The competition hall was very packed and the crowd was very loud so it affected them mentally, especially the less experienced athletes."
Sheik also criticised the standard of refereeing.
"The judging was terrible and it definitely affected us as we could have won some of the matches … not only was Singapore affected, but even Malaysia, Vietnam and Philippines were unhappy," he said.
"I intend to submit a letter of complaint to the Singapore National Olympic Council and the International Silat Federation to inform them about some judging issues, and to recommend that the federation look into it for future events." - TODAY
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