Mohd Nabil receiving his bronze
medal, achieving a hat-trick of
medals in the biennial tournament.
Picture: Infofoto

Mohd Nabil Abd Malik ended Brunei's wait for a medal at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Melaka when the karate exponent won bronze in the men's below 75kg kumite yesterday.

The result meant that the 22-year-old has achieved a hat-trick of medals in the biennial tournament after finishing on the podium in Kedah in 2006 and Terengganu in 2008.

This year's Sukma which runs from June 10-19 marks a step-up for Mohd Nabil in terms of weight class as he had only previously competed in the men's kumite below 70kg category.

Beaten semi-finalist, Mohd Nabil was awarded joint third with Selangor's Poovanesvaran Kanesan.

Federal Territories' Teagarajan Kunasakaran won gold after beating Sabah's Mathavan Vickneswaran at the Dewan Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara (IKBN) Alor Gajah in Masjid Tanah yesterday.

Given a bye into the quarter-finals, Mohd Nabil beat Perak's Jeeva Selvam in his first win of the tournament.

However, a loss to Mathavan in the semi-finals meant he had to settle for bronze.

Along with Mohd Jamil Hj Abd Hamid, Mohd Nabil was Brunei's only medalist during the 2008 Sukma in Terengganu.

Mohd Nabil won silver in the men's kumite below 70 kg category while Mohd Jamil won silver in the men's kumite 80kg and above category.

In the 2006 edition of Sukma, Mohd Nabil won bronze in the men's kumite below 70kg category.

He was denied a better finish by Melaka's R Jayaraj in both instances.

The Sultanate is represented by a team of 10 exponents, two coaches and a manager in the karate event.

Mohd Jamil was not included in this year's squad.

One of the 15 participating states, Brunei is competing in 13 events at the Games - athletics, aquatics, badminton, bowling, cycling, fencing, karate, petanque, sepak takraw, silat, squash, tennis and wushu.

Brunei is represented by a contingent of 67 athletes, 16 coaches, five managers, 14 officials and two technical officers led by chef de mission Hj Rosmadee Hj Md Daud.

Federal Territories currently lead the tournament with 13 gold, eight silver and 10 bronze medals, displacing hosts Melaka — with 12 gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals — into second.

Sarawak round off the top three with 10 gold, 15 silver and eight bronze medals.

Meanwhile, Sukma 13 officially got of to a rousing start with the full works, fireworks and all at Hang Tuah Stadium in Melaka yesterday night.

According to Bernama, the ceremony was officially opened by Yang Dipertua Negeri Melaka Tun Mohd Khalil Yaakob before 40,000 spectators who had begun to arrive at the stadium as early as 6pm.

The Games, which ends on June 19 and offers 434 gold medals, is being participated by 6,500 athletes from 15 contingents including Brunei.

Brunei has been taking part as an invited team since the 5th Sukma in 1996.

One of the highlights of the opening was 120 National Service trainees bringing in the National Flag, the Melaka flag and the flags of the respective contingents, a first for the Sukma.

Another was the beating of the kompang by 5,000 students which earned a place in the Malaysia Book of Records for the most number of people beating the kompang simultaneously.

Courtesy from Brunei Times