Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
BRUNEI will be sending a 140-member contingent - 87 athletes competing in 14 sports - to the 30th SEA Games in the Philippines at the end of November.
This was revealed during a press conference at the Lecture Theatre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas earlier today.
Present at the event was His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the president of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC).
Part of the contingent are HRH Prince Hj Jefri Bolkiah, HRH Princess ‘Azemah Ni’Matul Bolkiah and HRH Prince ‘Abdul Mateen in polo while HRH Princess Fadzilah Lubabul Bolkiah in netball.
The other sports that the Sultanate will compete in at the Nov 30 - Dec 11 Games are aquatics, athletics, billiards, fencing, football, golf, karatedo, lawn bowls, pencak silat, taekwondo, 10-pin bowling and wushu.
After a long 18-year absence, Brunei will be sending swimmers with Muhammad Ahmad Isa and Nur Haziq Samil set to make their debut.
National sprinter Md Noor Firdaus Ar-Rasyid Hj Mohd Idris will be the only one in athletics as he will compete in the men’s 200-metre event.
There will be two athletes for pencak silat with Anisah Najihah in the women’s individual seni event and Muhammad Isyraq in the men’s tanding event.
Brunei will be represented by siblings Hyde Nachman and Hyde Nathania Hijium in taekwondo. They will participate in the individual events as well as mixed team event.
There will be five athletes for wushu - the sport that last won a gold medal for Brunei at the biennial Games in Myanmar back in 2013.
Basma Lachkar, who bagged silver in the previous edition, will take part in the women’s taijiquan and taijijian events.
She will be joined by brothers Mohd Adi Salihin (nanquan, nandao & nangun) and Mohd Safiee Shayferan Roslan (changquan, daoshu, gunshu & duilian), Hosea Wong Zheng Yu (taijiquan & taijijian) and Majdurano Joel Majallah Sain (nanquan, nandao, nangun & duilian).
Hjh Anis Sabrina Hj Yahya is the lone representative for fencing in the women’s individual sabre event while the pair of Ahmad Taufiq Murni and Md Azim Hj Abu Bakar are set to contest in the 9-ball single, 10-ball single and 9-ball doubles events.
Lawn bowls, who were the most successful team in the last edition with three silver and one bronze medals, will be represented by 11 athletes.
To round off, there will be eight athletes for 10-pin bowling and three in golf.
Hj Mohd Zamri Dato Paduka Hj Hamdani, the vice-president of BDNOC, is the chef-de-mission.
Brunei returned with five silver and nine bronze medals from the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur two years ago - a good improvement from their 2015 haul in Singapore where they clinched one silver and six bronze medals.
