Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
NINA JUNA is set to represent Brunei in weightlifting at the upcoming 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
This comes after the YOU.C1000 ambassador bagged the silver medal in the women’s U64kg category at Egat King's Cup and Princess Cup Weightlifting Championship in Thailand back in April.
She lifted her way to new personal bests with a record of 81kg for snatch and 105kg in the clean & jerk event.
“I didn’t expect it at first, our goal as a team joining this event was just to get our official number,” said Nina in a recent interview with BruSports News.
“My goal was to break my personal best on the stage and when I registered my entry number, I saw that my chance of a podium finish was high as long as I stayed calm during the warm up.
“I felt good during the warm up and had a feeling I might break my PB. On the competition floor, I surpassed my own expectations and did it for both lifts,” she added.
“With the help of the team and the Thai Navy coach, they saw my potential to lift the weight they had given me.
“I only needed to trust myself and focus on my lift. I was happy that I successfully completed the lift on the day itself showing that my hard work paid off,” continued the 31-year-old.
She last contested in the National Weightlifting competition recently where she finished top of the podium in the U64 category.
Brunei’s fittest woman is currently in Malaysia for a training camp and is hoping to see the sport grow.
"I hope Brunei weightlifting will gain more young athletes. I can see a lot of potential weightlifters,” said Nina.
“With a proper coach, nutritionist and physiology, I believe Brunei will have more good athletes to compete overseas,” she concluded.
Besides weightlifting, Brunei is also set to contest in wushu and karatedo at the Asian Games, which is scheduled from Sept 23 - Oct 3.
