Brunei Darussalam National
Olympic Council President
His Royal Highness Prince
Hj Sufri Bolkiah attending
yesterday's meeting on the
Sultanate's preparation
for this year's Southeast
Asian Games at the
Conference Room of the
Hassanal Bolkiah National
Stadium in Berakas.
Picture: BT/ Saiful Omar
More than 230 athletes have been shortlisted to represent Brunei at this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports' national selection and evaluation committee met yesterday to discuss the country's preparation for the Dec 11-22 Games in Myanmar, with the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah, revealing that the selected athletes were made up from 25 different sports.
Also present at the meeting at the Conference Room of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas was His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the president of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC).
"I hope this meeting will help the committee decide whether the candidates are worthy to represent the country at the SEA Games," said YB Pehin Dato Hj Hazair.
"We don't want to go to Myanmar just for exposure, we want to win medals... That is the challenge.
"There have already been a few meetings with the sport associations and we will be providing them (the athletes) the necessary coaching, overseas training and allowances (for the SEA Games)," added the minister.
The committee, which receives input from various sources, is tasked with choosing which athletes should represent Brunei in contingents the country sends to regional and international tournaments.
The athletes' selection is based on five criteria; past and current achievements, good discipline, good attendance in training, being able to show improvement during training and being able to pass fitness tests.
The SEA Games, where 33 sports are set to be contested, is one of the four multi-sport events the country will be competing in this year.
The others are the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea from June 29 to July 6 and the 2nd Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China from August 16-24.
The 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games at Pekanbaru-Riau, Indonesia, which was scheduled for June 6-17, was postponed to a further date due to "technical reasons".
Previous reports in The Brunei Times have stated that sub-contractors hired to build the main stadium stopped operations in protest at not being paid in full.
