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With 18 seconds left in the final, Indonesia fighter Meilani was leading Hong An 61-43. The Indonesian coaching staff was preparing to celebrate. The remaining time was short and it would have been nearly impossible for An to equalize. However, the Vietnamese fighter locked Meilani’s arm and forced her to tap out.
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Hoang Nguyen Hong An locks Safira Meilani's arm at the 2023 SEA Games pencak silat match on May 10, 2023. Photo by VnEpxress/Lam Thoa |
Immediately after the referee awarded the victory to An, the Indonesian coaching staff protested.
The Vietnamese coaching staff then protested the protest, which led to an altercation between the two sides.
An Indonesian staff even grabbed the shirt collar of Vietnam pencak silat team leader Hoang Quoc Vinh. The organizers, security forces and volunteers at the gymnasium had to interfere to break up the melee.
After cooling down, the Indonesian coaching team continued to complain. The main referee of this match, who was also Indonesian, canceled An’s knock-out victory, which stripped of her the medal and gave it to Meilani, who had the higher score.
The Vietnamese coaching had to pay $200 to file an appeal.
After consideration, the organizers acknowledged Hong An’s victory.
An altercation between the Vietnam and Indonesia coaching staff after the match. Video by VnExpress/Lam Thoa, The Quynh
According to coach Nguyen Van Hung, it does not matter how many points the opponent has if you tap them out. If they tap out, you win.
In silat, it only takes a tap on the floor or an ‘ah’ shout to be counted as a knockout.
Team leader Quoc Vinh said: "We asked the organizers to be fair and respect the rule."
Vinh admitted that the situation was sensitive because the referee had already made the call.
"Rule and expertise wise, we know we are right," Vinh said.
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Hoang Nguyen Hong An celebrates with the Vietnamese flag after the win. Photo by VnExpress/Lam Thoa |
An recalled the turning point of the match: "At that time, I thought it would be too difficult to level such a big score gap. I was a bit discouraged. But when I thought about everyone's expectations, I tried to kick, to hit, to score as many points as I could, even though I was exhausted at the time.
"At the last minute, the coach told me the opponent had an arm injury, so I decided to take advantage of it. At that time I was panicked, but tried to find a way to execute that finishing blow."
