Caption: (From Left) Nur Hafizah Ahmad, team manager Ak Farid Pg Idrus and Jacqueline Lim pose for a photo. Picture: Courtesy of BASA
Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE national synchronised swimming team hopes that they will be able to have certified judges from the country for future competitions.
The lack of a Brunei judge at the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur might have cost the national team some dear points.
The duo of Jacqueline Lim and Nur Hafizah Ahmad placed at the end of the Duet Free event after tallying 56.7000 points at the Bukit Jalil National Aquatics Centre earlier today.
The Philippines finished just ahead of them with 59.6333 points while Vietnam were seventh with 60.7667 points.
“Today (Sunday) they looked really good. Eventhough their score was the lowest, they have done their best for the country,” said national synchronised swimming coach Nur Anna Muin after the event.
“There were several factors that weakened their score and one of them is that we got no judge.
“Some of our friends from other countries commented that our athletes put up a better performance compared to two other countries that participated,” she added.
“But what we lacked was a judge. I hope we will be able to have our own judge in the near future,” continued the Indonesian.
Picture: Courtesy of BASA
Lim seconded the thoughts of her coach and was proud to represent Brunei in the sport for the first time at the biennial Games.
”We gave our best today but I think we probably could have gotten a better score than this,” said Lim.
“As synchronised swimming is a subjective sport, having your own judges often plays a big role.
“But overall, I am happy to have this opportunity to participate in my first SEA Games together with my duet partner,” she added.
“We came across many difficulties but I am glad we both still stood together as one at the end. I look forward to further improvements and will continue to work hard for the next meet,” continued Lim.
Hafizah felt that they have improved and hopes that their participation will help the sport rise in the Sultanate.
“We performed much better today. We're not as experienced as the other teams since this is Brunei's first time competing in synchronised swimming at the SEA Games, so I feel like we can improve a lot from here,” said Hafizah.
“Hopefully our performance here has shown that Brunei can participate in this sport and will make it more popular back home,” she added.
Nur Hafizah Ahmad (L) and Jacqueline Lim during a training session. Picture: Courtesy of BASA
Ahmad Isa, the vice president of the Brunei Amateur Swimming Association (BASA) also commended the girls for their efforts.
“The girls put up a commendable performance for first timers,” said Ahmad.
“Hopefully with more exposure and better training this will spur them and other aspiring synchro swimmers to continue their efforts and achieve greater heights in other competitions and the next edition of the SEA Games in 2019,” he added.
Team manager Ak Farid Pg Idrus is already looking forward to future tournaments.
“I’m so proud of the two girls, they did very well for today's event,” said Ak Farid.
Even when I watch them performing, they did it with confidence. I’m looking forward for the next competition,” he concluded.
Malaysia clinched the gold 76.3000 points beating out Singapore by 0.0667 points.
Indonesia completed the podium after tallying 71.4667 points.
