MALAYSIAN silambam team bagged 12 gold medals to emerge overall champions at the Asian Open Silambam Championship in Qatar, yesterday.
Malaysia Silambam Association president Dr M. Suraess said six national exponents displayed splendid performances to deliver two gold each via the ‘thanithiramai’ (individual artistic staff spinning) and ‘poruthal’ (combat) categories at the Doha Sports Complex.
The gold medallists are Prakash in the men’s open above 60kg category; Shastivena in the girls’ below 17 years (55kg-65kg) category; as well as Leenasree (30kg-40kg), Kavithira (45-55kg), Darnisha (55kg-65kg), and Ranishaa (above 70kg) - all in girls’ under 15 category.
Dr Suraess said hosts Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) finished second and third in the tournament that was also participated by representatives from India and Saudi Arabia.
“We made history by winning the overall title. Six of our athletes who got medals at the Sarawak SUKMA (Malaysian Games) in August, participated.
“The closing ceremony was coincidentally graced by the Malaysian Ambassador to Qatar, Mohammad Faizal Razali, who was proud to hand the overall champions trophy,” he said in a statement, today.
