National lawn bowls coach Tony Scott admitted he has mixed feelings over Brunei's results at the World Indoor Singles Championship in Australia after both of the country's contestants finished second last in their groups.
Abd Rahman Hj Omar only managed two wins to end ninth after beating Turkey's Ozkan Akar 6-6, 7-7, 5-0 and Hong Kong's Chi Leung Fung 14-4, 13-4 at the Warilla Bowls & Recreation Club in New South Wales.
Hjh Amalia Hj Metali, meanwhile, finished 11th after collecting three wins by taking down Hong Kong's Thammy Tham 6-9, 8-6, 2-1, Macau's Nikki Lee 9-3, 8-7 and Japan's Hiroko Emura 6-9, 10-8, 3-2.
When asked if the results were what he expected, Scott replied: "Yes and no".
"If you look at the results in the men's division, Abd Rahman lost four games in the tiebreak ends," said Scott, who did not go to the tournament as previously reported by The Brunei Times but followed the results from Brunei.
Abd Rahman went to tiebreakers against Netherland's Andy Docter (5-12,9-4,3-4), South Africa's Bobby Donnelly (8-6, 6-12, 3-4), Ireland's Neil Booth (6-10, 7-6, 1-3) and Fiji's Samuela Tuikiligana (12-2, 3-11, 1-2).
"So if some of the results went our way with the tie breaks in the men's section, things could have been a little different," pointed out Scott.
"Abd Rahman played extremely well against some more experienced and world-rated players, and in the game against Australia (Tony Wood), Abd Rahman actually led in both sets before being defeated (5-6, 5-8).
"The games Abd Rahman lost, he was far from disgraced and was always in a position to push for victories in all but one game.
"In the ladies draw, Hjh Amalia was in a very hard section which consisted of four players with over 20 world titles between them.
"(You also have to take) into consideration that defending champion (New Zealand's Jo Edwards) and World No 2 (Australia's) Karen Murphy didn't even qualify for the finals from this section.
"Hjh Amalia played her best game against Murphy - the world champion and arguably history's greatest every female bowler.
"Once again, we actually led both sets but experience won in the end (Murphy won 8-4, 14-7).
"This game was a huge challenge for Hjh Amalia playing against the hometown girl and crowd favorite in front of a huge gallery in the last pool match.
"Murphy was expected to win easily, but this wasn't the case. And as previously stated, Hjh Amalia led Murphy midway through both sets.
Scott said after he analysed both players' scorecards, he felt that there were some things the pair could have executed better.
"But in saying that, this is a world indoor event and as stated to The Brunei Times in earlier interviews, I was always aware it would be a huge task," he added.
Australia's Jeremy Henry defeated Wood 7-2, 8-7 to clinch the men's title and Scotland's Caroline Brown beat Guernsey's Alison Merrien 7-7, 12-2 for the women's crown.
