The national sepak takraw pose for a group photo before their semi-final match against Indonesia yesterday. Picture: Courtesy of Md Isa Marsidi
THE national sepak takraw team won bronze medal at the Five-Nations Sepak Takraw Championship 2016 in Malaysia yesterday.
The sultanate lost 2-0 to Indonesia in the semi-final of the men’s team regu event at Stadium Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur to share the third place with Malaysia ‘B’. The result meant that the country achieved their podium-finish target at competition. “This is our first tournament of the year and I am glad that we managed to at least win a medal,” said the national team manager Md Isa Marsidi in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.
“We lost to Indonesia in the semi-final. It was a very close battle. We only lost few points in both sets and we did not make it easy for Indonesia until the final point. “Our players gave their best in the game and I am very proud of them,” he added. The country were represented by captain Mohammad Selamat Yakup, Abdul Hadi Ariffin Matali, Mohammad Shukri Jaineh, Mohammad Alliffuddin Jamaluddin and Zatie Hidayat Saidi.
Brunei kicked-off their match on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Singapore and followed that up with a 2-0 defeat to Malaysia ‘B’ to progress to the top four. “Overall, we had a very good campaign in Malaysia. All the players have showed great discipline throughout the tournament,” continued Md Isa. “They (the players) also showed great sportsmanship, spirit and displayed very good individual skills and performances,” he added.
A total of six countries: Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and host Malaysia battled for top honours at the competition. The event was organised by the Malaysian Sepak Takraw Association (PSM). The national team’s latest achievement in the sport was when they won two bronze medals from the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, held in Singapore last year.
The team had finished third in both the chinlone-same stroke and the chinlone-non-repetition primary events. In May, the sultanate also brought home two bronze medals from the 30th King’s Cup Sepak Takraw Championship in Bangkok.
The first bronze medal came from the regu event in the Premier Division while the second medal was from the regu event in Division 1.
