SEPANG: National silat exponent V. Thamaraj, who became the world champion at the World Pencak Silat Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), has been promoted from Corporal to Sergeant effective Jan 2.
Malaysian Armed Forces Silat Association (ATM) secretary Major Noorsyahiddawati Abdullah Sani said the promotion was following the success of the 28-year-old silat exponent who currently serves at the 9th Komp of the Royal Military Police Corps (KPTD) in Sibu, Sarawak.
“Alhamdulillah, he will be given the rank of Sgt along with Cpl Ahmad Fauzan Hadi (gold winner of the Men’s Solo Class). We will celebrate them on Dec 26.
“It is a great appreciation for them, especially so since they are from the KPTD. The ATM silat chairman himself is the director of KPTD, so they are eligible for the rank,“ she said when met by reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here today.
Narrating the journey of Thamaraj who was originally involved in taekwondo, Noorsyahiddawati was also excited about the transition to silat in a short period of time by the individual from Sungai Petani, Kedah who came to fruition and became the world champion.
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“Actually, he is a taekwondo exponent but was more interested in silat. So we trained him, sent him to the National Silat Championship in 2022 and from there he was absorbed into the national squad on his achievements so far this year,“ he said.
Last Sunday, Thamaraj emerged among the senior silat exponents who contributed one of the six gold medals at the World Pencak Silat Championship, which also saw Malaysia take home nine silvers and four bronze medals.
The National Junior squad also returned home with five gold, four silver and four bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Thamaraj dreams of more titles in 2025 after creating history by becoming a world champion in the Men’s Free class after defeating Uzbekistan’s Khudoyberdiev Diyobek.
He said the victory over Khudoyberdiev was more of revenge for his previous defeat, thus giving him confidence to excel on the international stage in the future.
“I have met him (Khudoyberdiev) before but the victory was cancelled because of (the punch) that hit the neck. It was like a gross violation.
“The next tournament is the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan next year. My target is definitely to win gold for Malaysia after silver medals in the last two editions,“ he said.
