REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- A total of 16 Indonesian Pencak Silat athletes departed for Perak, Malaysia, on Tuesday, to participate in the Perak Open Pencak Silat Championship in preparation for the SEA Games scheduled in Singapore in June.
The Indonesian contingent sent to compete in the Perak Open were the best, but their participation was meant to measure the strength of their rivals in the SEA Games, Tamsil Rimsal of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI) stated.
"The national Pencak Silat athletes that we have sent will face tough competition from their rivals belonging to other ASEAN member countries who will take part in the championship," said Tamsil, who is in charge of preserving IPSI's achievements.
Before participating in the Perak Open, Indonesia also sent several athletes to take part in the Singapore Open Pencak Silat Championship on April 2-6, 2015. They failed to bag any gold medals.
In January 2015, Indonesia emerged as the winner in the World's Pencak Silat Championship in Thailand by grabbing nine gold medals. The athletes sent by Jakarta to the world championship were also those participating in the national pencak silat training program, he pointed out.
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