Jason Koh (2nd R) and Abd Wafi Suhardi (R) in action against Singapore during their Under-15 doubles match at the 20th South East Asian Junior (SEA JR) Table Tennis Championship yesterday. BT/ Zul Zainal
Brunei were knocked out of the Under-18 mixed doubles, U-15 boys doubles and U-15 girls doubles event yesterday during day three of the 20th South East Asian Junior (SEA JR) Table Tennis Championship.
Abd Wafi Suhardi and Jason Koh lost to Poh Shao Feng and Lucas Tan from Singapore 3-1 in their U-15 boys match at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex. Abd Wafi and Jason put up a good fight and won the first set but they were overwhelmed and failed to match their opponent's pace in the remaining sets.
Compatriots Luqman Hii Abd Qayyum and Ak Abd Basheer Pg Hj Mohd Noor were swept 3-0 by Thailand's Pattaratorn Passara and Yanapong Panagitgan. The U-15 girls doubles saw Brunei's Fiona Hii and Leong Yii lose 3-0 to Rina Sintya and Desi Ramandanti of Indonesia while Hong Hui Hin and Meng Chien were defeated 3-0 by Linda Zeng Ziyue and Zhang Wan Ling from Singapore.
Brunei's U-18 mixed double team, Leonardo Koh and Lydia Hii, were trounced 3-0 in their match against Mohd Zahru Nailufar and Aisyah Farah Aini from Indonesia. The team event finals took place prior to the doubles matches with Singapore taking home two trophies in the team competition.
They took down Thailand 3-2 and 3-1 in the U-15 boys and U-18 girls category respectively. Thailand won gold in the U-18 boys category, exacting revenge on Singapore with a 3-1 win.
Indonesia defeated Thailand to take home top honours in the U-15 girls category. Hj Brahim Hj Ismail, managing director of Yayasan Sultan Hj Hassanal Bolkiah, presented the winners of the team category with their respective medals.
The trophies were awarded by Managing Director of Alpha Electronic Services Shawn Cassidy Narcis. Singapore national table tennis coach Shishao Chen spoke highly of Thailand's performances before expressing hopes that his team will continue to improve.
"We're happy that we beat Thailand in the U-15 boys and U-18 girls team finals... They're getting stronger every time we meet and that gives us more to worry about," he told The Brunei Times. "But we have practiced hard so we will see what happens if we meet again in any of the finals.
"We're trying our best to improve our results from last year, which we won eight gold medals in the singles, doubles and team event. "With that said, we are a little worried about our U-15 boys and girls team because this is the first time they're playing at a national level."