Malaysian athlete alleges bias after martial arts battle

JAKARTA: A Malaysian athlete accused judges of bias and stormed out of a tumultuous match of the Indonesian martial art pencak silat at the Asian Games in Jakarta on Monday. Mohd Al-Jufferi Jamari, the 2016 world champion, withdrew in protest seconds before the end of the final and punched a hole in the wall of the warm-up area, as Indonesia’s Komang Harik Adi Putra bagged gold in the heated contest. “I’m not mad at my opponent nor the supporters, but I’m mad because the jury didn’t give the point fairly,” 26-year-old Al-Jufferi said, according to the Games’ official website. Al-Jufferi dominated the early part of the men’s 65-70kg final but 23-year-old Komang came back strongly. Komang eventually clinched the match 4-1 and Al-Jufferi’s coach was left trying to calm down the Malaysian, who pulled out two seconds before the finish. Harry Warganegara, of Inasgoc, the Games organising committee, told AFP Al-Jufferi was unlikely to be sanctioned. “We think it was very unfortunate though we try to understand (what the athlete was going through),” he said. “But I don’t think there will be any sanctions.” Nazif Najib, secretary general of Malaysia’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), said he was waiting for the report from Inasgoc but agreed it was unlikely he would be punished. “We think it was an athlete’s response, he was emotional so no sanctions,” he told AFP. Komang’s medal was one of eight golds for Indonesia in pencak silat at this year’s Asiad. The term pencak silat describes hundreds of indigenous combat styles in Southeast Asia, with fighters wielding an array of weapons such as knives, sickles and machetes.