NATIONAL taekwondo exponent Ahmad Izzat Ahsanuddin Sofian bagged a bronze medal for Brunei at the 18th Malaysian Games (SUKMA) in Sarawak yesterday — the country’s third bronze from the sport at this year’s Games.
Ahmad Izzat Ahsanuddin shared third place with Mohd Zuhair Nor of Terrengganu in the welterweight (over 74kg and not exceeding 80kg) kyorugi event to bring the country’s medal tally to three bronzes — all from taekwondo. Ahmad Izzat Ahsanuddin defeated Yong Siong How of Penang in the first round of the tournament before beating Tue You Jing of Johor in the quarter-final.
The 20-year old faced Chai Chun Hui from Sarawak in the semi-final and lost, forcing him to settle for bronze. Kedah’s Balakumaran Govindasamy Naidu bagged gold after defeating Chai in the final at the Stadium Perpaduan in Petrajaya, Kuching. The other Bruneian competing yesterday, Cynthia Christine Chin Yee Tsien, lost to Nurul Asyhqin Azmi from Penang in the first round of the bantamweight (over 49kg and not exceeding 53kg) event.
The taekwondo team trained in South Korea for one month to prepare for SUKMA and have the most athletes with seven. Brunei started their campaign on Tuesday by winning two bronze medals in taekwondo through the Hijium siblings in the poomsae events. Hyde Nachman Hijium won the sultanate’s first bronze in the men’s poomsae individual event after scoring 7.04 points. Hyde’s sister Hyde Nathania Hijium also got on the podium in the women’s poomsae individual after notching 7.11 points.
Brunei also competed in the cycling 1km event yesterday where the country’s representative Md Al Wa’ie Hj Aini finished 12th in the pool of 20 riders after recording a time of 01:09.759. Johor’s Mohd Shah Firdaus Shahrom won the event after clocking a time of 01:02.981 along the Jalan Bandar Baru Samariang.
Mohd Fadhil Mohd Zonis of Selangor won silver after crossing the finish line after 01:03.267 while Asyraf Naim Ying of Terrengganu took bronze after recording a time of 01:05.307. Brunei will continue their campaign in taekwondo today with Hidayah Tul Fitri Hj Masri going up against Christina Clara in Sabah in the fin weight (not exceeding 46kg) event. Meanwhile, Batrisyia Rafhanah Rapawi will take on Rebecca John Nedek of Sarawak in the flyweight (over 46kg and not exceeding 49kg) event.
The cycling team will also lace up today with Abdul Mu’iz Yuzaini and Amiruddin Hj Mohd Amir competing in the 40km event.
