The national athletics team during a training session for the Hong Kong Inter-City Athletic Championship 2016 at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, Hong Kong, recently. Picture: Courtesy of BDAF
THE national athletics team fell short in the Hong Kong Inter-City Athletic Championship 2016 last weekend after national 100m record holder Md Fakhri Ismail secured fifth place in the 100m final, clocking 10.88s.
Md Asy Syafi’e Md Bohari, who clocked 11.07s, and Md Fa’aizul Abdullah also fell short in securing a berth in 100m finals at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground, Hong Kong. The Brunei Darussalam Athletics Federation (BDAF) treasurer and team captain who led the team, Pg Mohd Azlan Pg Hj Tengah Omar praised the athletes’ performances.
“We (BDAF) are very proud of the athlete’s performances and they did well despite battling the scorching weather in Hong Kong and the limited training during the fasting month of Ramadhan - they did well!,” said Pg Mohd Azlan in a phone interview with The Brunei Times last night.
“China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Singapore, Taipei, Thailand, The Philippines, and various athletic clubs from around the region have sent their best athletes to compete in the tournament. So we understood the challenges that our athletes were up against.
“All these athletes from the region came and prepared for bigger athletic meets, while we sent ours to the tournament as part of their training programme and international exposure.
“It was a good experience for them and I hope they learned a lot from some of these very fine athletes,” he added. “Md Asy Syafi’e and Md Fa’aizul have used the tournament as a platform to prepare for the 16th Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Kuching, Malaysia, in less than a month away while Md Fakhri needed to compete in more international events to prepare for the world’s most highly anticipated tournament - the Rio Olympics, though he has yet to be confirmed.
“We hope our athletics team will be able to compete in more regional competitions. “Through these international meets, our junior athletes will have the opportunity to enhance their confidence and performances before they can compete in more challenging competitions/games.
“We also hope that by competing in these regional and international events will enhance their network relationships and goodwill with other athletes from around the region,” he added.
