A Brunei player (2nd L) tries to block a shot from an Indonesian opponent. Courtesy of Asia Sports Ventures
A Brunei player (R) shakes hand with an Indonesian opponent. Courtesy of Asia Sports Ventures
The national sepak takraw team will face Singapore in a battle for fifth at the 3rd International Sepak Takraw Federation (ISTAF) Super Series 2013 in Sabah, Malaysia today.
The Sultanate fell 2-0 to Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the regu competition yesterday, sending them to the playoffs where they beat Iran 2-0.
Singapore, meanwhile, fell 2-1 to top seeds Malaysia in the last-eight before overcoming India 2-1 to setup the meeting with Brunei.
Malaysia will take on Japan in the semi-finals while Thailand and Indonesia will face each other in the other matchup, with the final will be contested on the same day.
No matter how today's tie against Singapore pans out, Brunei will still finish with their best position in the competition having finished ninth in the first two legs in New Delhi in August and Bangkok last month.
More impressively, the Sultanate have sent a second string team - Mohd Alliffuddin Jamaludin, Mohd Hazim Mohammad Ali, Nur Alimin Sunggoh, Ahmad Habbibuddin Jamaludin, Mohd Shahrine Budin - to compete at the Likas Sports Complex.
They started out their campaign at the Oct 31 - Nov 3 event on the wrong foot with a 2-1 (8-15, 16-14, 15-13) loss to Singapore in the five-team Group B.
It was back-to-back losses after they fell to third seeds Japan in another closely contested match 2-1 (17-15, 12-15, 15-12).
In the third match, Thailand proved too strong to handle as they cruised to a 2-0 (15-1, 15-4) victory over the Bruneians.
They then picked up their first victory after beating Germany 2-0 to move into the last-eight.
National sepak takraw coach Ittiphol Chomchaissak had opted out of the competition as the country is not taking part in the regu event at next month's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar.
Md Shukri Jaineh, Ismail Ang, Marzuki Munap, Humaidi Brahim Abd Hadi Ariffin Matazi and Mohd Hafizzuddin Jamaludin are the names listed for the Games. They will only compete in the doubles, team (doubles) and hoop events.
Ittiphol will bring his charges for intensive training in Thailand next week in a lead up to the Games.
