Pencak silat competitor Phouk Daniel has made history by becoming the first Cambodian ever to win a medal at the 3rd Asian Youth Games 2025, currently being held in Manama, Bahrain.
The Kingdom had only gained experience — not medals — in the previous two editions of the Games it attended.
Daniel earned bronze in the 51–55 kg combat category after losing in the semifinals to Indonesia’s Habbil Furgon Winata, a strong competitor and reigning pencak silat champion.
His teammate Det Sreyyal just missed out at a shot the podium. She defeated a Pakistani opponent but was defeated by Aliyam Azizova of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals (round of 8).
Coach Vy Tara, who is leading the pencak silat team in Bahrain, spoke to The Post via a messaging app.
“This bronze is a new achievement for the Cambodian Pencak Silat Federation and also the first medal ever won by Cambodia at the Asian Youth Games. We had never reached this level before,” he said.
He expressed regret that Daniel missed the chance to advance to the final and fight for gold, saying he believed Daniel had the ability to defeat Indonesia’s Habbil Furgon Winata.
“Technically, he was very competitive. But he lost due to inexperience and emotional control. That caused him to make mistakes, and the judges deducted several points,” he said.
“If Daniel had maintained focus and followed our game plan like he did in the first round, I believe he could have beaten the Indonesian and possibly gone on to win gold. The Bahraini athlete who reached the final had a relatively lower skill level,” he added.
Daniel himself admitted that he lost focus emotionally during the fight.
“In the first round, I performed well, but then I got dizzy after clashing heads with the Indonesian. While I was still dazed, the referee warned me several times, which broke my concentration. But overall, I think I did well — this was a great new experience for me, and I’m proud to have won a bronze medal for Cambodia,” he noted.
Indonesia’s Winata — who defeated Daniel in the semifinals — went on to win the gold medal after defeating Qassim Abdulla of Bahrain in the final.
His win helped Indonesia top the medal standings in the pencak silat events, which featured only three categories. Indonesia finished with a gold and a silver, followed by Uzbekistan in second place (1 gold, 1 bronze), the Philippines in third (1 gold), and Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan tied for fourth (1 silver each).
Meanwhile, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Iran all tied for sixth place, each earning one bronze medal.
