THE national sepak team started off their title defence in the men’s trio event at the 5th Asian Beach Games in Vietnam with one win and one loss yesterday.
Brunei got their campaign off to a rough start after a 2-1 (21-12, 15-21, 21-13) loss at the hands of Indonesia in Group A at Da Nang. They then bounced back with a 2-0 (21-8, 21-12) victory over India in the second game.
The sultanate will take on Nepal in their final group match today with a win to send them into the semi-finals of the event to be contested later in the day.
The country is represented by six athletes — Abdul Hadi Ariffin Metali, Ismail Ang, Jati Hidayat Saidi, Shukri Jaineh, Md Selamat Yakup and Mohd Alifuddin Jamaluddin — at the September 24-Oct 5 competition.
They will also compete in the regu event starting tomorrow where they have been drawn in Group B together with Myanmar, Nepal and Indonesia.
The sepak takraw team created history in the previous edition of the Games two years ago in Thailand when they defeated South Korea 2-1 in the final of the trio event to clinch the sultanate’s maiden gold medal at the biennial competition.
