His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the BNOC president, at the meeting in Berakas yesterday. Picture: BT/Rudolf Portillo

HRH calls for more stringent tests for national athletes.

His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah yesterday called for more stringent tests to be carried out in the search for future national athletes.

Chairing a post-mortem meeting for last month's New Delhi Commonwealth Games, the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC) president said that the emphasis should be on quality not quantity.

"I advise the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports' national selection and evaluation committee to be tougher ... and evaluate in a more detailed manner the qualities of the athletes nominated by their associations," said His Royal Highness yesterday.

"Why were the athlete selections only done in March? I have stressed many times before how important intensive training is and that should be done at least six months before the start of a tournament if earlier better still.

"Though the system that exists now, in terms of athlete selection to represent the country, is not yet in the direction I am hoping for, I trust and believe that the efforts to achieve that are in progress and will bear fruit," he said during the meeting at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.

The Sultanate sent a team of six men and five women to compete in five events in lawnbowls, where all of them failed to progress past the first round of the Oct 3-14 multi-sport event.

The Sultanate's sole para-athlete, Alihan Muda, finished sixth in a field of nine athletes in the F32/34/52 shot put event.

For the first time ever, secretariats had issued daily reports on the athlete's progress, and the president based most of his speech around them.

A lack of strategy and knowledge about opponents was identified as a major stumbling block for the Brunei athletes in the Indian city.

A lack of discipline and inability to follow coaches' orders were also listed in the report, an issue His Royal Highness heavily condemned.

Inconsistent performances and inaccurate play was also in the reports and the president noted that perhaps a sports psychologist might be the answer to the problem.

The team were also found guilty of having poor fighting spirit, teamwork and communication, subjects which should have been looked into during the selection phase.

It was not all doom and gloom though.

His Royal Highness said that he was pleased the meeting was able to convene in such a short time after the Games' end and hoped this would continue in the future, as would the secretariats' daily reports.

His Royal Highness also said he hoped the country would be able to send more athletes to compete in para-sports.

He went on to stress the need for coaches, be it local or foreign, to train these athletes.

The meeting was attended by officials from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, including the Minister, Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah.

Courtesy from Brunei Times