The national sepak takraw team finished sixth at the 3rd International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) Super Series 2013 after losing 2-1 (15-11, 10-15, 15-7) to Singapore in Sabah, Malaysia yesterday.
Despite the defeat, it was Brunei's best finish in the competition having finished ninth in the first two legs in New Delhi in August and Bangkok last month.
More impressive is that the Sultanate achieved the position with a second string team - Mohd Alliffuddin Jamaludin, Mohd Hazim Mohammad Ali, Nur Alimin Sunggoh, Ahmad Habbibuddin Jamaludin, Mohd Shahrine Budin - at the Oct 31 - Nov 3 event.
National sepak takraw coach Ittiphol Chomchaissak had opted out of the competition as the country is not taking part in the regu event at next month's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.
They started out their campaign with a 2-1 (8-15, 16-14, 15-13) loss to Singapore in the five-team Group B at the Likas Sports Complex.
It was back-to-back losses after they fell to third seeds Japan in another closely contested match 2-1 (17-15, 12-15, 15-12).
Eventual champions Thailand proved too strong to handle as they cruised to a 2-0 (15-1, 15-4) victory over the Bruneians.
The sultanate then picked up their first victory after beating Germany 2-0 to move into the last-eight. Brunei dropped to the playoff after losing 2-0 to Indonesia in the quarter-finals.
The Sultanate then bounced back with a 2-0 victory over Iran sending them to the fifth place playoff.
Meanwhile, Thailand were crowned the champions after defeating hosts Malaysia 3-2 in the final.
Thailand beat Indonesia 3-0 in the semi-finals while Malaysia beat Japan by the same scoreline. Indonesia took bronze after a 3-0 win against Japan.
It was a double for the Thais after their women's team cruised to a 3-0 win over Vietnam in the final. Indonesia completed the podium after beating Malaysia 3-0.
