National petanque coach
Somsak Juychunprasert
looking over his charges
during an earlier training
session at the Petanque
Pitch of the Hassanal
Bolkiah National Sports
Complex in Berakas.
Picture: BT/ Ak Fauzi Pg
Salleh
National petanque coach Somsak Juychunprasert will be fielding new players at this month's Asian Petanque Championship in Bali, Indonesia.
Brunei will be represented by Awg Badarudin Hj Murni, Masli Hj Mohammad Said, Hj Mohammad Sahmedeyn Hj Kahar, Hj Mohd Azlan Hj Awg Jali, Hjh Syahrinawati Yahya, Muslinah Amran, Nurhafizah Abdul Razak and Norhani Hj Juna at the October 20-27 tournament in Bali.
"We have a lot of young and new faces in the team and they are very good and talented. All the players that are selected for this tournaments are those who finished in the top eight of the recent Pan Pacific Championship that Brunei hosted," said Somsak in a recent interview with The Brunei Times.
Brunei won bronze in the 7th Pan Pacific Petanque Championship held in the Sultanate in July.
Hamidon Hj Hamid, Zunaidi Ali and Hj Yussof Mohammad shared third place with Indonesia after reaching the semi-finals of the competition.
They defeated compatriots Awg Abdul Wahab Salihin Hj Besar, Marhalim Hj Juni and Azmi Eddy Mohd Harris 13-5 in the quarter-final before losing to eventual silver-medalists Vietnam 13-6 in the semi-final at the Petanque Pitch of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas.
The trio are not taking part in the tournament as they will be focusing on their preparation for the Southeast (SEA) Asian Games in Myanmar.
National captain Mazlan Hj Yahya and Wirna Hj Mohd Yassin will also miss the tournament as to give the young players a chance to compete at the regional level.
"We will try our best to get a good result in this tournament, but for these new players gaining experience is far more important. They will learn a lot from this trip," continued the Thai.
According to Somsak, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Chinese Taipei, Madagascar are among the teams that will be joining the rest of the ASEAN countries at the tournament.
Brunei's best achievement was winning silver in the triples event during the 2009 edition of the tournament held in Bangkok, Thailand.
The team of Mazlan, Pg Hj Asmalina and Mohd Abdillah Tamin were denied gold by Vietnam in the final, losing 13-5.
The country reached the last eight the past three years.
The Asian Championship is an annual tournament organised by the Asian Petanque and Sports Boules Confederation.
The confederation was established on December 1, 1997.
