PETALING JAYA: It was a double joy for the Selangor silat team as two of their young debutants enjoyed a dream start to their Sukma campaigns by striking gold on Sunday (Aug 16).
Mohd Aliff Damien Mohd Redzuan never expected to win gold on home soil after spending much of the past six months in and out of hospital.
Aliff, competing in the men's artistic silat singles final at Dewan Seri Sarjana, Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten), scored 9.925 points to edge Hadif Irfan Mustaffa Kamal, who took silver with 9.915.
The 18-year-old, who was making his Sukma debut, admitted he had not set a high target after struggling with a series of injuries over the past few months.
"I've gone through a lot, but who would have thought that God would still give me the opportunity to win this gold medal.
"I didn't expect it because I've been in and out of hospital a lot this year because of injuries. I previously had injections in my left knee and right ankle. All these injuries happened outside training.
"The latest was in June when I tore a ligament in my ankle. The doctor told me I needed a month of rest, but I pushed myself to continue training," said Aliff.
Selangor celebrated another gold through Aliff's teammate Izzah Najwa Norwanizam in the women's artistic singles.
Izzah scored 9.920 points to beat Sabah's Roslyana Rustam, who finished with 9.895.
The 18-year-old from Tanjung Karang said the victory made her two-year wait to represent Selangor worthwhile as she struck gold on her Sukma debut.
"I was quite nervous in the final, but I knew I had to be confident and have my own strategy if I wanted to win. I just tried to give my best performance.
"For me, the two-year wait was worth it and all the hard work I've put in has paid off," said Izzah.
