It's pain and gain for Mohd Faizul (updated)

Siti Rahmah Mohamed Nasir of Malaysia with her gold medal in the Class D below 65kg category of the silat competition at the Singapore SEA Games. - BERNAMA

SINGAPORE: Debutant pencak silat exponent Mohd Faizul Nasir has certainly been through the wars.

The 27-year-old Malaysian was accidentally kicked in the groin in the third bout of the men’s tanding Class B below 55kg category final by Nanthachai Khansakhon of Thailand.

Faizul, who was then leading 5-0, was awarded the gold after Nanthachai was disqualified. In the semi-finals on Saturday, Faizul was hit in the eye in his win over Vietnam's Vo Duy Phoung.

In the final match, Faizul collapsed on the mat in pain and had to be stretchered out of the Singapore Expo Hall 2 Arena. He was confined to a wheelchair for a while as he was unable to walk.

Despite the bruising encounters, he just brushed aside the incidents.

“In sports, we’re bound to get injured. What is important is that I delivered the first gold for Malaysia in pencak silat,” said Faizul, who is pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in Skudai.

It was Faizul’s first win over Nanthachai. He lost to him in two semi-finals – at the Asian Indoor Championships in Hanoi in 2009 and the World Championships in Phuket in January.

Faizul, who will receive RM20,000 as an incentive from the National Sports Council (NSC), said he would use the money to send his 47-year-old mother Inang Zuarni Amir to Mecca to perform the umrah in December.

Malaysia won two more golds on Sunday through Siti Rahmah Mohd Nasir and Mohd Al Jufferi Jamari.

Siti Rahmah exacted sweet revenge over defending champion Nguyen Thi Yen of Vietnam in the women’s Class D below 65kg category.

The 28-year-old Kuala Terengganu exponent, who lost to the Vietnamese in the first round in the 2013 Myanmar SEA Games, won 5-0 for her first gold in four Games appearances.

Mohd Al Jufferi bagged his third consecutive SEA Games gold by winning the men’s Class E below 70kg category. The 23-year-old had no problems beating Vietnam’s Vu Van Hoang 5-0 in the final.

The Star Online