The president of the Brunei Athletic Association (BAA) Kifli Hj Jaafar (front row C) and the contingent in a group photo. Ak Fauzi Pg Salleh
16 national track and field athletes left the Sultanate yesterday to compete at the 2014 Malaysia Open Athletics Championship in Perlis, Malaysia.
Brunei will be competing in 10 events - 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x100m, 4x400m, discus, shot put and javelin at the June 25 to 27 tournament. The tournament - in its 91st edition this year, will be held at the Tuanku Syed Putra Stadium in Kangar.
About 600 athletes from hosts Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Syria, Sri Lanka and Thailand will be competing in the Championship.
The country will be represented by Maziah Mahusin, Mohd Fakhri Ismail, Abdul Rahim Abdullah, Liaw Choon Fat, Mohd As Syafie Bohari, Muhd Nur Firdaus Ar Rasyid, Hj Muhd Nur Zul Isamuddin Hj Wan Zulaini, Mohd Adenin Bolhan, Mohd Rachmat Safar, Nazery Nain, Sharminbn Nain, Leong Sheo Yee, Dk Umi Ramizah Pg Hj Jaluddin, Nurazurin Abd Rahman, Fatin Farah Nabillah Ismail Shahdan and Norhidayatullah Johari.
Also travelling with the athletes were team manager Adia Tawang and coaches Hj Shahron Hj Shamsuddin, Maqnun Wahab, Azmize Rahman and Gaston Hippolyte Songkeng. Present to send off the athletes at the International Airport in Berakas yesterday was the president of the Brunei Athletic Association (BAA), Kifli Hj Jaafar.
"The aim of sending these athletes to the tournament is to see and gauge the standards of our athletes among the other athletes in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region as we are preparing for the upcoming SEA Games in Singapore in 2015," Kifli told The Brunei Times.
"We are still in the process of identifying the best athletes to represent us in the SEA Games. For the athletes that will be going to Perlis today (yesterday), this is their chance to (convince) us. "The target in this competition is that we would like to see the athletes break their personal record, but if they manage to win medals it would be a bonus.
"Malaysia Open Athletics Championship is one of the toughest track and field tournaments in the region, we (BAA) will try our best to send more athletes to compete outside the country in the future, so as to give them more exposure," added Kifli.
