The hosts bagged their first gold through the men’s trio of Ahmad Danial-Nur Azlisham Mohd Ali-Suhaiqal Suhardie, who mesmerised the judges to collect 9.93 points and beat the Selangor trio in the men’s regu category.

The Land of the Hornbills picked up gold No 2 through the trio of Nuradriani Fitri-Nur Alfianiz-Vivina Anging, who amassed 9.93 points to defeat their Johor rivals in the women’s regu category.

Sarawak struck gold No3 through Shamiezal Shapian in the men’s solo creative category after he defeated the Federal Territories’ Faris Zakwan with an enthralling performance to wow the judges.

Sarawak’s silat head coach Fadzil Jamain was delighted to see their gamble in fielding so many newcomers pay off and expects his charges to snap up more gold medals before the silat competition ends on Saturday (Aug 24).

“Alhamdullillah, our seven-month training stint in Sibu and Miri has paid off. Our squad this time has just one experienced silat exponent…the rest are all newcomers.

“Our achievement is due to the high confidence placed on the process of grooming these new exponents,” he said.

Meanwhile, Terengganu also shone in silat when they took home three gold medals through Siti Zuilaikha (women’s solo baku tunggal), Ahmad Iqbal Iman (men’s solo baku tunggal) and the duo of Ahmad Nazrien-Azizi Zulazlan (men’s tempur ganda).