WATCH: S’porean silat athlete gets an illegal kick in the back from his M’sian opponent in Asian Games

Video screengrabs
Video screengrabs

Yesterday, local athlete Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alauddin scored a silver medal in pencak silat for Singapore at the Asian Games in Indonesia, but just a day before that, the 22-year-old was writhing on the ground in pain.

It was the appalling result of getting kicked in the back by his Malaysian opponent in the silat competition’s Class I (85-90kg) semi-final on Sunday. Sobri Muhammad Robial delivered a hard kick in Ferdous’ back after the latter fell to the ground — an illegal move on the 25-year-old Malaysian’s part. In other circles, this is also known as a massive dick move.

The exact moment of the horrible incident was caught on camera and uploaded on the Indonesian Football News Facebook page, where it went viral. Note how the spectators — a majority of which are Indonesian — immediately jeered and yelled at Sobri as soon as they saw the unjustified kick.

Here’s a clearer shot of the moment from another angle. It also captured how Sobri appeared to be unremorseful and was even confrontational to Ferdous’ coach and team-mate. A commotion can be seen over in the stands.

“That has got his bench upset. They really didn’t appreciate that. It was unsporting, really”, noted the bout’s commentator.

It was Ferdous who had the last laugh as he defeated Sobri 5-0. He informed The Straits Times that he actually notice how his opponent had been frustrated and saw the kick coming as well.

“I could see (my opponent’s) frustration because my game plan meant he couldn’t touch me at all,” he said to ST.

“I managed to compose myself and I saw the kick coming and braced myself for it. After he kicked, I thought, ‘Ah, he actually did it… I’m just going to take this time to absorb the pain’”.

Yesterday, it was Ferdous who lost in a 5-0 defeat against home ground favorite Aji Bangkit Pamungkas in the finals. Still, it’s another medal for Singapore — currently in 16th position overall with a total of three golds, four silvers and 10 bronzes.



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