Malaysian Silat Athletes Aim To Win Dpm's Cup Int'l Pencak Silat Championship

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- The national university silat team is aiming to snatch the Deputy Prime Minister's Cup International Pencak Silat Championship 2015 title from Indonesia team, which won it last year. The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education's Sports division secretary Hazally Jali said he was optimistic the athletes from local universities could wrest the title after holding it for three consecutive years, from 2011 to 2013. He said the tournament would also be used as a platform to measure the ability of the national silat athletes ahead of the ASEAN University Games (AUG) in Singapore next year. "This is the main stage for us to choose silat athletes who will represent the country at a higher level. We also want to win back the overall AUG title, which was won by Thailand last year," he told a press conference here Monday. The Deputy Prime Minister's Cup International Pencak Silat Championship will be held at the Berjaya Megamall in Kuantan, Pahang from Sept 16 to 20. Approximately 800 athletes from 59 teams from home and abroad will participate in the six-day tournament co-organised by the Ministry of Higher Education, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia and the National Silat Federation. A total of 17 teams from foreign universities will participate in the tournament, including from Bangladesh, Netherlands, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Yemen. -- BERNAMA