Pg Md Salleh Chuchu Pg Hj Tuah in action during the 2012 Brunei Darussalam Lawn Bowls Pairs Open Championships. The national player was a member of the trio which lost their Labuan International Open Mixed Triples Championship crown to Labuan's Malaysia Games' B team this week. Picture: BT file
Brunei's Perdana lawn bowls team was denied a hat-trick of titles during this week's Labuan International Open Mixed Triples Championship.
Champions in 2011 and 2012, the trio of national bowlers Pg Md Salleh Chuchu Pg Hj Tuah, Dk Nurul Nabillah Pg Md Salleh Chuchu and Md Salleh Awg Hitam were out-rolled out 20-12 by Labuan Malaysia Games (Sukma) B during the final of the Dec 29-Jan 1 competition.
"We all feel disappointed about not being able to win the title three years in a row, but we do feel proud to have reached the final - a feat that hasn't been achieved before," Pg Md Salleh said after returning from the tournament at the Labuan International Lawn Bowls Arena.
"Labuan Sukma B just played better than us in the final, but we will be back to challenge for the title again at the next tournament.
"We didn't start well in the earlier rounds, losing two games in our group stages to finish second in the table - though our determination and good team work helped us to make it through to the final.
"Group A was the toughest group of all because we were matched up against Labuan Sukma A, Sabah A and Brunei Wisdom Bowls Club A," added Pg Md Salleh.
A total of 32 teams from Brunei, Labuan and Sabah took part in the four day tournament in Labuan.
The Brunei Darussalam National Lawn Bowls Association (BDNLBA) sent four teams - Perdana, Perkasa, Perwira and Padia'an - while local club Wisdom Bowls Club sent nine.
Perkasa's Ali Hj Bujang, Abd Rahman Hj Omar and Kartini Hj Abd Hamid were the only other Bruneian trio that managed to make it to the top 16 but were quickly knocked out in the quarter-finals.
The Wisdom Bowls Club sent five junior squads to give them exposure to international competition and the opportunity to go up against better players.
Pg Md Salleh and his daughter Dk Nurul Nabillah still have more to look forward to as they will be defending their Integration Lawn Bowls Championship title in Labuan, which they won last February with the help of Razif Abdul Hassan.
Although starting in a similar fashion to last week's tournament, Pg Md Salleh said the team successfully motivated themselves to come back from behind to lift the trophy at last February's competition.
"Our next aim is to retain the Integration Lawn Bowls Championship title, and the loss we just went through will definitely motivate us to be number one," said Pg Md Salleh of the February 12-16 event.
"We also hope to then go on to participate in March's 1st Lion City Cup International Mix in Singapore," he added.
Pg Md Salleh said the March 28-31 Lion City Cup will see participants from hosts Singapore, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia and Thailand compete.
