THE Philippines’s Edmae Tacuel bagged gold after a masterful 470 points showcase in the first round of the men’s pencak silat competition on Monday at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.
Tacuel showed supremacy showing, elegant and precise movement tallying a 296-point accuracy with firmness 174 to total 470 points.
“I’m happy that I got the gold medal,” said Tacuel. “I thank my coaches, teamates, and to my supporters in Iloilo. I thank you all for putting your faith in me.” His gold on the second day of events at the 2019 SEA Games further padded the Philippines’s medal tally: it had capped Day 1 with 35 medals, including 20 golds.
Tacuel formally started arnis back in 2012 before he started to cross-train and was greatly influenced by a colleague in Tubongan Iloilo, who first suggested and later insisted that he continue playing the sport.
Tacuel joined the national team in April 2019. He immediately went to Indonesia to train and had the chance play in the Singapore open.
He subsequently started to train in the Philippines for the upcoming SEAG before heading to Thailand to the beach world games for their last stop before the biennial meet.
Singapore Muhammad Iqbal Bin Abeul Rahman finished silver with an accuracy of 293, and firmness 168 to total 461.
Indonesia’s Dino Sulistianto bagged bronze with a total of 460 points coming from a 288 accuracy, and 172 firmness.
Image credits: Nonoy Lacza