Edmar Tacuel snared the Philippines’ first gold medal in the 30th Southeast Asian Games Pencak Silat championships, Monday at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Zambales.
Tacuel, who hails from Iloilo City, lorded over the Men’s Seni Tunggal Singles event with 470 points.
“Happy ako na nakakuha ako ng gold medal,” he said. “Pinapasalamatan ko lahat ng coaches, teammates, mga taga-Iloilo. Salamat sa panalanagin ninyo, sa buong Pilipinas, salamat lahat sa inyo.”
Muhammad Iqbal Bin Abdul Rahman of Singapore copped the silver medal with 461 points. Meanwhile, Indonesia’a bet Dino Bima Sulistianto will fly back home with the bronze medal with 460 points.
This is indeed a huge achievement for Tacuel, knowing that Pencak Silat was not really his first sport but rather Arnis. He was also only included in the national team just this summer.
“Nag-start ako 2012 Arnis, then nag-cross train ako sa Pencak Silat dahil may Pencak sa Iloilo — may senior kami na taga-Tubungan. Nag-propagate kami then nagtuloy-tuloy na,” he shared.
“Nung pumasok ako this April 2019, nasabak ako agad sa training sa Indonesia. After that naglaro kami sa Singapore Open, then nag-training ulit kami dito for the upcoming games.”
Part of their buildup was the the 1st World Beach Pencak Silat Championship in Thailand last October. The competition boosted his confidence plenty since he snagged silver, also in the Sine Tunggal category.
“Naglaro kami ng Beach World Games sa Thailand. Then bumalik kami, dito na kami nag-training sa Pilipinas.”
