SEA Games rookie Dines Dumaan delivered a masterful performance to cop the Philippines’ 24th gold medal, as he dominated the pencak silat competition of the 29th Southeast Asian Games Tuesday at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A native of Panitan town in Capiz, the 22-year-old Dumaan overcame Firman of Indonesia via a takedown, 4-1, in the finals to win the 45-50 kg division of the men’s tanding putra Class A.
Mastafa Fitri Masjuri of Malaysia and Muhammad Ridhwan Selamat of Singapore settled for the bronze medal.
“A takedown is thee points each and Dumaan also was able to score points with his punches,” remarked team manager Inies Candor of Dumaan, who joined the national team just over a year ago.
Dumaan’s victory capped a very fruitful day for the pencak silat squad, which had yet to win a gold medal in the biennial meet since Earl Buenviaje topped the men’s Class F 70-75 kg category in the 2005 SEA Games in Manila.
Prior to Dumaan, also emerging victorious for the national pencak silat squad are Princesslyn Enopia, Rickrod Ortega, and Jefferson Rhey Loon, who bagged the bronze medal in their respective events.
Enopia finished third in the women’s tanding Class A division, while Ortega and Loon placed third in the men’s tanding Class C 55-60 kg and men’s tanding Class D 60-65 kg category, respectively.
The Filipino pencak silat artists’ bid to win additional gold medals is not yet over, as Almohaidib Abad vies in the men’s seni tunggal (artistic) singles finals, and Cherry May Regalado in women’s seri tunggal (artistic) finals, respectively.
Story from PSC-POC Media Group
Photo from Regie Bueno
