The national petanque team
posing with their medals
after the completion of
the Invitational Open
Petanque Championship in
Bintangor, Sarawak. The
team are set to compete in
two tournaments in
September. Picture: BT
file
The national petanque team will be looking for even more success in two regional tournaments in September.
The first event, the 4th Borneo Inter-Club Petanque Championship, will kick off on September 14 while the second, the 3rd Borneo Cup Petanque Championship, will commence the next day.
The tournaments this year will be held in Bintulu, Sarawak, and it will be the first time it will be held outside Brunei after the country hosted it for three consecutive years from 2010 to 2013 and enjoyed glory in each instance.
Brunei were crowned champions of the 1st Borneo Inter-Club Petanque Championship and the Sultanate went on to sweep the second edition of the tournament and the additional Borneo Cup Petanque Championship the following year in 2011.
The national team also won last year's edition of the Borneo Cup Petanque Championship and the Borneo Inter-Club Petanque Championship.
"Our target in the tournaments is of course to win and to defend the titles," said captain Mazlan Hj Yahya in an interview with The Brunei Times recently.
"The tournament will be held on a rotating basis now. Next year it will be Sabah's turn.
"We need to prepare early for these tournament as we are expecting the neighbouring teams to be fully prepared, especially Sarawak as they are hosting it this year.
"Training continues as usual in Ramadhan and we train six-times a week except on Sunday.
"But this month there are changes in our training schedule.
"The training this month will be from 5pm to 6pm, then we will continue after tarawih prayers (9pm) until 11 pm.
"Currently we have nine players training with us but we are also looking to add more players in the team," he added.
Abdillah Tamin and Hidayatullah As Naruddin defeated Mazlan and Wirna Hj Mohd Yassin 13-9 in an all-Bruneian Borneo Inter-Club Petanque Championship final at the Petanque Pitch of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas last year.
The national team also successfully defended 2nd Borneo Cup Petanque Championship after raking in four gold and three silver in all the seven categories last year.
Sarawak finished second with two gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Meanwhile, Sabah finished third with one gold, one silver and five bronze medals.
