SINGAPORE - Nazri Sutari delivered Singapore's first SEA Games gold medal in sambo on Thursday (Dec 5) after beating Indonesia's Jason Sim by eight points to win the men's combat sambo under-82kg at the Angeles University Foundation Gymnasium in Angeles City, the Philippines.

Compatriot Ashvin Singh finished second in the Under-74kg final after losing to the Philippines' Mark Striegl by eight points.

Sambo is among the nine niche sports that are making their debuts at the biennial Games, alongside breaking (dancesport), e-sports, beach handball, jiu-jitsu, kurash, skateboarding, surfing and underwater hockey.

Sambo is a martial art and combat sport developed by the Soviet army in the 1920s, similar to judo and ju-jitsu. It also incorporates a variety of wrestling and self-defence skills.

Two styles of the martial art are being contested at the SEA Games: sport sambo and combat sambo.

The former is similar to judo and wrestling, with added leg lock techniques adapted from traditional Japanese jiu-jitsu.

Combat sambo, meanwhile, is more like modern mixed martial arts with punches, kicks and strikes.