(From left) Saiful Rizal Ali, Mohsin Khan, Mohd Kamaluddin Abu Bakar and Muhd Shavez Cheema pose for a group photo during the recently concluded Sarawak Squash Circuit 2014. Courtesy of Muhd Shavez Cheema
Brunei swept the podium in the Division 2 category of the recently concluded Sarawak Squash Circuit 2014 (Miri Leg).
Saiful Rizal Ali finished first in the round-robin format tournament, while compatriots Muhd Shavez Cheema and Mohd Kamaluddin Abu Bakar finished second and third respectively. The other Brunei representative at the tournament, Mohsin Khan, finished fifth in the Division 1 category.
Sixteen players competed at the June 20-22 tournament at the Pei Min Squash Academy in Miri, Sarawak. Saiful Rizal defeated Muhd Shavez and Mohd Khafiz Firdaus Jasa from Malaysia to finish at the top of the standings on Sunday.
Second-placed Muhd Shavez defeated Chiew Ka Heng from Malaysia after losing to Saiful Rizal. Last year's champion of the men's open category Hj Mohd Sufri Hj Abdul Hamid and runner-up Abang Muhammad Huzairie Abang Ali did not compete in the tournament this year but the latter is still involved with the team as the manager.
Abang Muhammad Huzairie and Hj Mohd Sufri recently competed at the Kijono Cup Open Squash Championship 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the duo made Brunei proud after reaching the quarter-finals of the May 15-17 tournament at the Gelora Bung Karno Squash Complex.
"I am very happy with their performance, I expected Saiful to win the Division 2 and he just did it. Mohd Kamaluddin also did well considering he has been out of training for three months now due to other commitments," said Abang Muhammad Huzairie in an interview with The Brunei Times last night.
"Shavez did great to finish second in the tournament, overall it was a very good outing for Brunei squash. "We are now looking forward to competing in more tournaments in the region in the future, we are planning to compete in Malaysia and Indonesia again this year in September but for now we are going to take a break and intensive training will resume after Raya.
"To be honest we (Bruneians) are still not at the Premier standard in the sport but the players work hard and are always competing. They are getting there," said Abang Muhammad Huzairie.
