THE Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has announced that Brunei Darussalam will be sending a 172-member strong contingent including 105 athletes and 67 officials to the upcoming 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which will be held from August 19-31.
The contingent, which will be led by Pengiran Anak Sofian bin Pengiran Anak Haji Ibrahim as the Chef de Mission, will also include an Assistant Chef de Mission, team managers, coaches and medical staff.
According to a press release, the country will be taking part in 14 sports namely aquatics, athletics, badminton, cycling, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, karate, lawn bowls, netball, pencak silat, sepak takraw and wushu.
The athletes will compete in wushu, sepak takraw, netball, fencing and pencak silat.
For the first time, the country will take part in mixed polo under the sport of equestrian, and as the event will be receiving a wide coverage, members of the public are encouraged to show their support.
Athletes in the 100m and 200m, Mohd Fakhri bin Ismail and Mohd Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid, who clocked times are expected to provide fierce competition to their Asean counterparts.
Brunei Darussalam first took part in the SEA Games in 1977. The nation has collected a haul of 12 golds, 46 silvers and 167 bronzes. Brunei’s best showing was when they were the host nation in 1999 having collected four golds, 12 silvers and 32 bronzes, according to a press statement.
In preparing for the SEA Games, national teams and athletes have competed overseas as part of their training under local and foreign coaches – Aquatics athletes in Singapore, Badminton and Athletics athletes in Malaysia, Cycling and Sepak Takraw athletes in Thailand, Fencing athletes in Hong Kong, Netball athletes in Sri Lanka and Wushu in the People’s Republic of China.
The national contingent is expected to depart by phases starting from August 12. The national flag-handing ceremony will be on August 9.
In Kuala Lumpur, the national team will be allocated a group of supporters by the host nation. In respect to that, Bruneians in Malaysia are welcomed to join the group of supporters in addition to encourage them to take part in volunteers’ groups.
Members of the public are welcomed to support the national contingent including well wishes in the most prestigious competition in the region.
Participation involving citizens and residents in the country in the SEA Games Baton Run on March 5 is a manifestation of sports building unity.
