BRUNEI Darussalam pencak silat representatives will be hoping the support of the country can inspire them to recognise success ahead of the 29th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games at the KLCC Hall 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this month.
The pencak silat exponents have been busy training since the start of the year and the highlight of their intensive preparations was the pre-SEA Games competitions last March.
Brunei will take part in the individual events with Muhd Imanuddin bin Ahmad taking part in the Tunggal L category while Norleyermah binti Haji Raya in the women tunggal category.
“The preparations for Brunei Darussalam in regional competitions and in particular at the upcoming SEA Games in Malaysia commenced since the start of the year and our training has been neat,” said one of the coaches in an interview with the Bulletin recently.
“Once the training is complete, we will be ready to take part in the SEA Games,” he said.
The individuals representing the country have been exposed in regional tournaments to boost their confidence and gain much-needed experience at this level in the pre-SEA Games competition which is organised by the host nation.
“Alhamdulillah, our participation there was quite encouraging in terms of competition and they could provide competition in the international stage. They could also provide competition to other countries.
“We have prepared the athletes in undertaking the intensive training and hopefully we can provide stiff competition.
“We also hope that the people in Brunei will pray for us and hopefully we could go far and win a medal in any colour to uplift the image of the country,” continued the coach.
The pencak silat exponents have been attending training through various phases including physical fitness as well as tests at the Sports Medicine and Research Centre (SMRC).
The coach said the hosts will pose a great challenge for Brunei’s hopes adding that they have also attended training in other countries.
He added that young athletes have also undergone training to take part in other regional competitions for instance the SUKMA Games in 2018.
The future looks bright in the sport with a conveyor belt of young athletes who have been prepared since two years ago to represent the country.
“The athletes in the academy have been prepared as part of a four-year preparation period for the 2019 SEA Games,” the coach said.
