Singapore (VNA) – Singapore’s national pencak silat fighter Iqbal Abdul Rahman aims for a gold medal at the upcoming 31st SEA Games in Vietnam from May 12-23.

Iqbal's men's artistic single event is among the first medal events scheduled to take place on the eve of the Games' official opening ceremony, so he could be in contention for Singapore's first gold in Hanoi.

He said it would mean a lot if he could grab that first gold for pencak silat and it would be amazing if he is also able to be the first gold for Singapore. “I'm looking forward to going in and aiming to be the first to win."

Iqbal Abdul Rahman is a world champion and four-time Asian Championships gold medallist. But the 28-year-old player has yet to get a SEA Games triumph in five attempts.

A silver medal at the last edition of the SEA Games in the Philippines in 2019 is Iqbal's best showing. He also won a bronze medal in 2015.

Singapore’s pencak silat team sets a target of three golds, three silver and six bronze medals from 16 events at this SEA Games

He has set a target for the team to return with a total of three gold, three silver and six bronze medals from the 16 events.

Pencak silat is a traditional strength of many regional countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam./.