SUBIC - Brothers don't always get along. But when the chips are down, they always have each other's backs.
Such brotherly love was on full display when siblings Alfau Jan and Almohaidib Abad hit the mats on the opening day of pencak silat male-ganda in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Thursday.
In sync for most of their three-minute routine, the two capitalized on years of familiarity.
Their chemistry was palpable, and it wasn't hard to understand why. After all, the two fell in love with the sport after it was introduced to them at an early age by their father, Abdul Karim, who also happens to be the artistic team's head coach.
"When we're competing, it's as if we're just playing at home. There's instant connection because we've lived together," said the older Alfau Jan.
However, the connection didn't translate to a gold medal. The siblings settled for silver after Malaysia beat them by technical decision.
Tied at 564 points at the end of the finals, the jury decided to award the gold to the visiting duo of Hamid Mohn Taqiyuddin and Yuga Sazlan.
The decision wasn't not explained to them. The elder Abad thought it was because of time, but that didn't matter anymore.
"It's good that we got the silver even though our scores were tied. I know the gold was for us, but the time proved costly for us," he said.
"The good thing about it is that they are improving. The silver medal was a huge jump from their sixth-place finish in the 2017 edition of the Games.
"We need to be better next time," said Almohaidib.