Abdul Haqim Hj Yahya (L) and national jumping coach Joseph Kameni at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium yesterday. BT/Jason Thomas
The national taekwondo and petanque teams are set to close out Brunei's campaign at the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games today.
The country has collected one gold, one silver and four bronze medals from eight sports at the Games, and it's now up to the remaining two teams to deliver.
Mohd Fatullah Mohammad Taib, who is competing in his third SEA Games, will be the first of the country's two taekwondo exponents to represent Brunei in the tournament when he takes to the floor for the men's 58-63kg (bantam weight) category against the Philippines' Paul Romero.
Nurulain Md Jafa'ar will compete in the women-s under 73kg (middle weight) category tomorrow.
Meanwhile in petanque, Zunaidi Ali, Hj Hamidon Hj Hamid and Hj Yussof Hj Mohammad will be flying the national flag in the men's triples, where they will go up against hosts Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Both Fatullah and Nurulain represented Brunei at October's Islamic Solidarity Games but did not return with medals after first round losses.
Turkey's Bildik Umuk beat Fathullah 14-1 while Nurulain went down 5-2 to Bangladesh's Shraboni Biswas.
Fatullah's 2011 SEA Games campaign saw him lose 2-1 to Malaysia's Rusfredy Tokan Petrus in the first round of the same category. He did not fare any better at the 2009 Laos SEA Games when he lost 11-1 to Singapore's Jason Tan in the same stage of the men's fin weight (below 54kg) category.
Brunei claimed a taekwondo bronze at the last Games in Indonesia in 2011 despite the contestant failing to win a game.
Mohammad Saifullah Hj Mohtar, who is not competing this year, lost his one and only match to Thailand's eventual champion Nattapat Tantramar in the welterweight (74-80kg) category.
The 9-2 loss meant he shared bronze with the other losing semi-finalist, Vietnam's Vo Hoang Giao - both were given byes to the semis and did not compete in the first round (quarter-finals).
Zunaidi, Hj Hamidon and Hj Yussof are expected to do well after winning bronze in the 7th Pan Pacific Petanque Championship in July.
They shared third place with Indonesia after reaching the semi-finals of the competition held in Brunei by defeating compatriots Abdul Wahab Salihin Hj Besar, Marhalim Hj Juni and Azmi Eddy Mohd Harris 13-5 in the quarter-final before losing to eventual silver-medalists Vietnam 13-6 in the semi-final.
More recently, the trio were in Thailand for a series of sparring and friendly matches aimed at helping national coach Somsak Juychunprasert identify and work on this players' strengths and weaknesses.
National captain Mazlan Hj Yahya, who won silver in the men's singles event at a pre-SEA Games trial in Myanmar in September, did not return to Naypyidaw.
A previous report in The Brunei Times stated that Mazlan did not meet the requirements set by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports' national selection and evaluation committee after failing to win any medal in a competition at which the standard is equivalent to the SEA Games and Pan Pacific Petanque Championship.
