Faustina Woo Wai Sii (right) and
Lee Ying Shi, who won a silver
medal at the 2009 SEA Games,
will contest the wushu events.
Picture: BT
Crown Prince will contest 8-Ball singles and 9-Ball singles events.
Sultanate to participate in 5 sports.
His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC), yesterday announced that nine athletes from five sports will represent the Sultanate at the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, to be held from Nov 12-27.
One of those athletes is His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, who will be the country's sole representative in cue sports. The Crown Prince will compete in both the 8-Ball singles and 9-Ball singles events.
Prince Sufri made the announcement during a flag handing over ceremony to Brunei's chef de mission for the 2010 Asian Games Hj Muhd Zamri Dato Paduka Hj Hamdani. The ceremony was held at the VIP room of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
The BNOC president said in his sabda delivered at the ceremony that athletes must make sacrifices to be successful in their careers.
"Sacrifices are made by every successful athlete. They also work hard to improve themselves," he added.
The other eight athletes will compete in karatedo, equestrian, fencing and wushu.
Four Brunei exponents will compete in karatedo, all in the kumite event.
Leading the charge are SEA Games medallists Mohammad Fadillah Hj Sanif, Mainudin Hj Mohamad and Mohammad Jamil Hj Abd Hamid.
Mainudin won bronze in the men's kumite 84kg and below in Laos last year, Md Jamil finished third in the men's kumite 84kg and above while Mohammad Fadillah claimed bronze in the men's 67kg and below event.
The latter was also a silver medallist at the 1999 SEA Games held in the Sultanate.
The other exponent is Mohammad Fadillah's younger brother, Muhammad Fida'iy Hj Sanif, who competed in the men's kumite 60kg and below division in Laos but failed to collect a medal.
"We joined the Indonesian Open in October where we bagged two bronze medals to prepare for the Games. All four exponents are very fit and we will try our best in Guangzhou," said Okhida Simangasing, the national karate coach, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday.
Mohammad Yunos Hj Hamid will be Brunei's sole representative in fencing.
Competing in the sabre individual event, this marks the first time that the Sultanate will be contesting the sport at the Games.
"We've worked hard for this competition. Recently, Yunos competed at the Commonwealth Fencing Open Championships and managed to move into the third round. It was a good result considering the tournament was contested in the knockout format," said Yoshea Rayendra Roerawinata, the national fencing coach.
Another athlete set to make his Asian Games debut is Pg Mohd Nasir Pg Anak Jaafar, who will compete in equestrian.
"He'll be competing against some of the best riders in Asia. He'll even have to go up against his trainer from the 2007 SEA Games who will be riding for Korea," said Pg Mohd Yakub Othman, the manager of the equestrian team.
"But Pg Mohd Nasir is a confident person and he has matured over the past years. I hope he'll be able to do well," he added.
The duo of Faustina Woo Wai Sii and Lee Ying Shi, who won a silver medal at the 2009 SEA Games, will be featuring in the wushu events.
Woo will take part in the Long Fist (Changquan) event while Lee will compete in both the Southern Fist (Nanquan) and Southern cudgel (Nandao) events.
"Most of our competitors started very early. We're behind compared to them but we're slowly catching up," said Li Hui, the national wushu coach.
"The girls have been working hard and I believe that they can put up a good fight if they can perform to their full potential," added the Chinese national.
The national contingent also received sports wear sponsored by 361 Degree (China) Co Ltd.
Also present at the ceremony was Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Paduka Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.
Brunei won one bronze medal through karatedo during the 14th edition of the Games in Busan, South Korea in 2002.
Their best showing was in 1994 when they bagged two bronze medals also in karatedo at the 12th edition of the Games in Hiroshima, Japan.
Courtesy from Brunei Times
