SEA Games 2025: Dhani Andika Raza steps up to dream world after first silat gold

BANGKOK – Back in 2018, a 13-year-old Dhani Andika Razali was a fan in the stands at the OCBC Arena.

Watching in awe as the likes of Sheik Ferdous Sheik Alau’ddin and Sheik Farhan Sheik Alau’ddin were crowned world champions at the World Pencak Silat Championships on home soil, his interest in the sport was piqued and he yearned to be “part of this world”.

On Dec 17, Dhani can be certain he belongs after clinching his first SEA Games gold medal. At the Impact Arena exhibition hall in Muang Thong Thani, the 20-year-old beat Indonesia’s Khoirudin Mustakim 41-21 in the men’s under-45kg tanding final.

It is the Singapore silat team’s only gold from these Games, with Indonesia topping the table with four gold, one silver and seven bronze medals, ahead of hosts Thailand who won three golds, four silvers and three bronzes, according to the Games’ official website.

Following his victory, a teary-eyed Dhani leapt into the arms of his teammates, who had vociferously backed the young gun throughout the final. He then launched into the iconic “Siu” celebration made famous by Portuguese football legend Cristiano Ronaldo.

Dhani said: “Representing Singapore at any competition is everything to me, because only seven years ago, I was seeing people like Ferdous and Farhan fighting for world championships and SEA Games, and I wasn’t a part of silat yet, but I told myself, I want to be with these people.

“I wanted to be a part of this world.”

The following year he started to train and compete in the sport and was eventually drafted into the national team. On his Games debut in 2023, he bagged a joint-bronze.

Dhani had defeated Malaysia’s Mohamad Akmal Azman and the Philippines’ Harold Ralph Ungaya in the earlier rounds to advance to the Dec 17 final, where he got the better of Khoirudin. The Indonesian was the Class A (45-50kg) gold medallist at the 2023 Games in Cambodia.

Dhani said that his journey from bronze to gold was a result of more hours in the gym and more time spent on cardio. From “running whenever I felt like running”, he took on a structured cardio programme with the help of the High Performance Sport Institute.

He said: “In the lead up to Cambodia, I was mainly doing sport-based training, but after the bronze, I started doing more gym work. I started doing more cardio and I think my performance skyrocketed from there.”

Meanwhile, there was a familiar sense of despondence for Ferdous after he was forced to settle for a silver again following a 26-5 defeat by Vietnam’s Nguyen Duy Tuyen in the men’s 85-90kg final.

Ferdous, a two-time world champion and Asian Games silver medallist, was hoping to win his first gold medal at these Games to add to his two individual silvers and a bronze from previous editions.

Said the 29-year-old: “For my final, I did the best I could, but the Vietnamese was the better fighter today. I’m not too disappointed in myself. I am sad that I didn’t get the gold but performance-wise, I tried my best to overcome my opponent.”

“He’s a good fighter….so I am aware of his abilities as well. The final was a whole different game than the previous two matches,” he added.

Singapore’s silat exponents ended their 2025 campaign with one gold, two silvers and two bronzes. The last time they won only one gold was at the 2015 edition in Singapore.

Earlier in Thailand, Affiz Zakri, Nazrul Kamal and Mustafar Isa won a silver in the men’s seni regu (artistic team) event while the joint-bronze medals were won by Nurin Insyirah in the women’s seni tunggal and Abdul Raaziq in the men’s tanding (75-80kg).

At the Cambodia Games in 2023, the Singapore silat team won two gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

While there were 22 categories contested then, there were only 13 categories this time. National silat head coach Rafili Ramli, however, admitted that the team fell short of their two-gold target.

But he hopes that a predominantly young 14-strong squad, which included six debutants, will learn valuable lessons.

Rafili said: “Even if the young athletes do not win, they can learn a lot.

“In terms of physical ability and skill, our athletes are on par with other countries, but the difference lies in mental resilience.”