His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, Honorary Life President of the SEA Games Federation and President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council presents prizes to national silat exponent Nur Wasiqah Aziemah Rosihan at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. PHOTO: INFOFOTO
Nur Wasiqah Aziemah Rosihan competes in the women’s ‘Seni Tunggal’ final. PHOTO: INFOFOTO
Brunei Darussalam claimed a third silver medal at the 33rd SEA Games on Sunday evening, courtesy of national silat exponent Nur Wasiqah Aziemah Rosihan in the women’s Seni Tunggal final.
In a tightly fought contest, Nur Wasiqah scored 9.920 but was edged out by Malaysia’s Nur Syafiqah Hamzah, who clinched gold with 9.960.
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, Honorary Life President of the SEA Games Federation and President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council, was in attendance and presented the medals. His Royal Highness also provided support to national athletes competing in wushu and swimming events.
In the pool, Brunei’s men’s quartet of Muhammad Isa bin Ahmad, Joel Ling Thai Yu, Zeke Chan Zhi Yue and Haziq Samil finished eighth in the 4×100 metres (m) freestyle relay, clocking 3:39.60.
Brunei swimming coach Wu Na said, “Overall, it was a solid team performance and the swimmers gave their best effort under challenging conditions.”
She highlighted Joel Ling’s opening leg, recalling: “(He) led off the relay with a strong swim of 52.72 seconds, which was an excellent start for the team. His split set a new Brunei Open National Record, improving the previous record of 53.59 seconds. This was a very positive highlight and showed Joel’s good preparation and confidence at the start of the race.”
Zeke Chan completed the second leg in 55.95 seconds, followed by Muhammad Isa Ahmad in 55.46, before Haziq Samil anchored the relay in 56.32.
The team’s overall time was just over a second outside the national record of 3:38.20. Considering the limited preparation time, Wu Na said the performance was encouraging.
“The swimmers handled the situation well and stayed focused throughout the race. Overall, it was a good swim by the team. There are areas to improve, especially with exchanges and race execution, but the effort and commitment shown by all four swimmers were commendable.
“With more preparation time and race exposure, the team has the potential to perform even better in future competitions.”
Elsewhere, in weightlifting, Mohammad Nashrul bin Haji Abu Bakar placed fifth in the men’s 65 kilogrammes (kg) category after lifting 115kg in the snatch and 140kg in the clean and jerk for a combined total of 255kg. – JAMES KON
