The Brunei contingent made their
entrance during the opening
ceremony of the 16th Asian Games
in Guangzhou last night. Picture:
Agencies
It is settled Brunei will only be competing in four sports at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Deputy Sultan, withdrew from the men's 8-ball and 9-ball pool singles on Thursday and it is too late to enter another name for cue sports.
"There is no way we can register another athlete," Brunei's chef de mission Hj Muhd Zamri DP Hj Hamdani told The Brunei Times when contacted yesterday.
"We already registered all our athletes' names during the delegation registration meeting.
"The meeting was prior to the contingent's arrival in Guangzhou and the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (Gagoc) has already accepted our registration," he added. (The meeting was held on Nov 8).
A Press release issued by the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC) on Thursday stated that His Royal Highness pulled out of the Nov 12-27 multi-sport event because of "inconsistent treatment from the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee regarding his accommodation throughout the duration of his participation".
It added that the Ritz Carlton Hotel had cancelled HRH's booking because the venue had been set aside only for OCA officials.
The news means that the Sultanate will only see action in equestrian, fencing, karate-do and wushu in the 16th edition of the Games.
Wushu's Faustina Wai Sii Woo launches Brunei's campaign today in both the one-day Southern Fist (Nanquan) and Southern Broad Sword (Nandao) events.
Lee Ying Shi, who carried the national flag during yesterday's opening ceremony, will then compete in the one-day Long Fist (Changquan) event on Tuesday.
Fencing's Mohammad Yunos Hj Hamid takes centre stage on Friday while Pg Mohd Nasir Pg Anak Jaafar is set to compete in the equestrian show jumping discipline on Nov 24.
Karate-do's Muhammad Fida'iy Hj Sanif (men's kumite -60kg) and his older brother Mohammad Fadillah (men's kumite -67kg) will do battle on Nov 25, with Mainudin Hj Mohamad (men's kumite -75kg) and Mohammad Jamil Hj Abd Hamid (men's kumite -84kg) closing out the country's participation on Nov 26.
Courtesy from Brunei Times