Once again, Brunei has bowed out of the Commonwealth Games without a medal to its name.

The Sultanate has been represented in every edition of the Games since the 1990 edition in Auckland, New Zealand, but is still without a podium finish.

The nation's last remaining hope in this year's Games in New Delhi was men's singles lawn bowler Ampuan Ahad Ampuan Kassim, who needed to win all three of his last games to stand any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Complex yesterday.

But whatever hopes he had of progressing were dashed when he lost his first match 2-0 (7-6, 9-5) to Cook Islands' Munokokura Pita.

His second game was a 2-0 (10-6, 6-3) defeat at the hands of Jersey's Michael Rive but he restored some pride with his 1.5-0.5 win against Malta's Shaun James Parnis in his third game the result his only victory in eight matches.

He finished dead last in the nine-man Group B, his set difference of -13 the worst among the 19 players including 10 in Group A who competed in the event.

Ampuan Ahad took an early 1-0 lead against Pita but the Cook Islander claimed the next four points. Ampuan Ahad clawed his way back to 4-3 only to see his opponent win three points in a row to take a 7-3 advantage. Ampuan Ahad won the next three points but it was too little too late.

He had a disastrous start to the second set.

He was down 7-0 before winning his first point, though he then made up for lost time with an impressive five-point run to set the scores at 7-5. The two-point gap was all Pita would allow though, and he grabbed the next two points to win the match.

Ampuan Ahad played much better against Rive.

He won the first two points but the Jersey-native swept the next six to carry a commanding 6-2 lead. Ampuan won the next three points to set the score at 6-5, Rive made it 7-5 but Ampuan Ahad made sure the deficit was back to one when he won the next point. However, Rive sealed the game with a three point run.

The Bruneian's fared much better in the second set this time around.

He took a 1-0 lead and traded points with Rive until 2-2, after which the latter won the next two points for a 4-2 cushion. Ampuan Ahad cut the scores to 4-3 but Rive closed the game out after winning the next two points.

Against Parnis he surged to a 3-0 lead, which soon dwindled to 3-2. The Bruneian won the next point but Parnis captured the next two to even the scores at 4-4. Ampuan Ahad won the next point and the duo traded points until 6-6.

His sole win in Delhi, Ampuan Ahad started the second set poorly but turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Parnis equalised only for Ampuan Ahad to claim the next two points for a 5-3 advantage. Parnis gave Ampuan Ahad a scare by winning the next three points to take a 6-5 cushion, but Ampuan Ahad pulled up his socks and scored three consecutive points to make it 8-6, before his opponent grabbed the last point.

On Monday he fell 2-0 (13-2, 11-6) to New Zealand's Ali Forsyth but was a better fight to England's Sam Tolchard, though he still lost 2-0 (8-7, 7-4).

Ampuan Ahad lost his first match 2-0 (10-8, 7-6) to Leslie Lagatule of Niue Island on Sunday, and started his campaign with a 2-0 (12-5, 13-2) loss to Mascarenhas and a 2-0 defeat (16-3, 15-4) to Rob Weales of Wales.

He also represented Brunei during the last edition of the Games in Melbourne, Australia, where he combined with Hj Osman Hj Yahya and Lokman Hj Md Salleh to finish last in the field of 21 entries in the men's triple.

Courtesy from Brunei Times