No spectators for Sukma silat events after water bottle incident

 

Spectators have been banned from the silat venue after a water bottle was hurled at contestants in the 45kg Putri Class match today. (Bernama pic)

MIRI: 

The 2024 Malaysia Games (Sukma) silat competition at Miri City Stadium will be held behind closed doors from tomorrow after a water bottle was hurled at the competitors by one of the spectators.

The water bottle was thrown into the ring during the 45kg Putri Class match between Sarawak’s Iman Syakilla Mahdi and Federal Territories’ Nurin Alyaa Damia Masran.

The match became heated when Nurin regained the lead over the local favourite with a score of 70-65, sparking tension among the spectators.

The incident is believed to have stemmed from dissatisfaction with the scoring system, which was apparently malfunctioning.

Silat technical delegation head Kamarul Ariffin A Latib announced that the decision to hold the competition behind closed doors was reached after a nearly two-hour meeting between the authorities and team managers.

“For the safety of all participants, we have decided that no spectators from any state or team will be allowed to attend the silat events from tomorrow until the final day on Aug 23.

Only people with official passes, such as medical teams and the media will be granted entry, and this will be strictly monitored by security,

 he said at a press conference after the meeting.

Kamarul said teams would also be separated to prevent any further incident.

He said today’s matches were suspended due to a malfunction in the competition’s scoring system server, which would be repaired overnight.

Any matches that were disrupted earlier today will resume tomorrow morning,

 he said. - FMT