Pengiran Mohd Nasir bin Pengiran Anak Ja’afar holding a Brunei flag. – PENGIRAN MOHD NASIR
BRUNEI Darussalam’s national equestrian athlete Pengiran Mohd Nasir bin Pengiran Anak Ja’afar narrowly missed out on the podium after finishing fourth in the Individual Jumping event in the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the 3Q Equestrian Centre in Rawang yesterday.
The national athlete had a perfect run clearing all the hurdles in the jump-off without any penalties as well as the two rounds in the final which put him in medal contention.
The sole Bruneian representative produced his closest performance to medalling in a highly-rated championship whose difference in finishing third was separated by 3.28s after recording a time of 44.94s.
Riding his horse Hunters Canatano Z, Pengiran Mohd Nasir moved closer towards a SEA Games medal after completing two perfect rounds in the final where he joined defending champion Sharmini Christina Ratnasingham, Philippines’s Colin Syquia, Malaysia’s Qabil Ambak Dato’ Seri Mahamad Fathil and Singapore’s Catherine Chew in the jump-off.
With speed and perfection coming into play in the jump-off, Colin took home the gold medal after registering the quickest time with 37.63s while Malaysia’s Sharmini claimed silver with a time of 41.30s and her compatriot Qabil Ambak taking bronze with a time of 41.66s.
It was still a commendable performance for the national rider who upgraded his eighth placing from the previous edition to within a whisker of winning an equestrian bronze.
“Performance wise, we (with Hunters Catanato Z) don’t think we could have done any better. We did our best. We went three rounds and we didn’t incur any penalties. The level has definitely risen a lot over the years,” said the national rider. “I’m really disappointed coming so close to winning Brunei Darussalam’s first equestrian medal in jumping,” continued Pengiran Mohd Nasir.
The Belgium-based rider has also labelled their fourth-placed finish as his best performance to date adding that there is always room for improvement.
He shared that the obstacle was harder compared to the previous edition in Singapore and that the technicality of the course is also comparable to European standards.
Colin, with his horse Adventure E, snatched gold in the individual jumping event for the Philippines since Diego Lorenzo in the 2011 edition in Palembang and denied Malaysia a perfect swoop in the jumping events.
Thailand’s former SEA Games silver medallist Jaruporn Limpichati and former individual dressage winner Praveen Nair Mathavan were the biggest casualties in the final after failing to make the cut into the second round.
