Proud moment: V. Thamaraj (first from left, first row) with teammates. - Facebook Zahid Hamidi
KUALA LUMPUR: The variety of techniques in silat clearly piqued the interest of a Kedah-born Indian youth to venture into this heritage martial art that is more synonymous with the Malays.
According to national silat exponent V. Thamaraj, apart from wanting something different and trying new things, techniques such as sweeps, scissors and stylish combat motivated him to delve deeper into the sport until he made history by becoming a world champion, veritably becoming the first Indian and Malaysian-Indian to do so, at the World Championships in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday.
The 28-year-old, who serves as a soldier with the rank of Corporal in the 9th Royal Military Police Corps (military police of the Army), said he was originally a taekwondo exponent before starting to dabble in silat after being encouraged by the interest of his coach and friends he served alongside.
"I joined the national squad after winning the gold medal at the 20th National Championship in 2022 in Johor. Originally I was into taekwondo in 2016 with the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM).
"Wanting to switch to the world of silat was also quite difficult at that time... because the game pattern of striking, grappling and throwing and rules were different... But I trained with a skilled coach and a former world champion, so I quickly learned the techniques and rules of silat," he said.
Sharing on the sweet history he made, Thamaraj admitted that he was over the moon after defeating Uzbekistan's Khudoyberdiev Diyobek in the men's Free (Putera Open) Class to take home the gold medal and become world champion at the tournament.
"I was really eyeing a gold medal at the World Championships this time with the help and enthusiasm of my family, friends, coaches, the Malaysian National Silat Federation (Pesaka), the National Sports Institute (NSI) and the National Sports Council (NSC),” he said.
Yesterday, Thamaraj emerged among the country’s senior silat fighters who contributed one of the six gold medals at the World Championships, with Malaysia also taking home nine silver and four bronze medals overall.
The country's youth silat athletes were no less impressive with a medal haul of five gold, four silver and one bronze in the World Youth Championships also held at the same venue.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also congratulated Thamaraj on this proud success. - Bernama
