National silat athlete Muhammad Khairi Adib Azhar is determined to focus more on the Cambodia SEA Games that will take place this May in his mission to defend the gold medal he won at the Hanoi edition last year.

The 21-year-old said he won’t repeat the mistake he made during the Sarawak Premier International Silat Championships (SPISC) 2023 when he failed to control his emotions and was disqualified from the competition in the semi-finals.

“For the Cambodia SEA Games, if I meet my target opponent, I will focus more, I don’t want to be like before, this time I want to perform 100 per cent. I will focus more so that I can control my emotions and listen to my coach,”

“In the bout in Sarawak, I punched my opponent in the face and I was disqualified. That was my fault, because I didn’t focus and didn’t listen to the coach,” he told reporters when met at the training session of the silat camp for the Cambodia SEA Games here recently.

The exponent from Kuala Lumpur said opponents from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam will pose the main challenge to him in his quest to retain the title at the biennial games.

At the Hanoi SEA Games, Muhammad Khairi Adib won the gold medal in Putra Class B after defeating Indonesian challenger Khoirudin Mustakim in a dramatic final.

In the meantime, he said the coaching style of Mohd Fauzi Khalid, who had been in the national camp with him, is also guiding him a lot to improve his performance before leaving for Cambodia.

Mohd Fauzi took over as coach of the national silat squad in January.