Brunei athlete Mardiana Mohd Yussap (1st row, centre) with the silver medal she won from the the F02 women's bocce singles event on Thursday at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens. Also in the picture are her teammates Li Chun Gid (right) and Saifullah Kahar. Picture: Courtesy of SOBD/ Abdul Kahar

The Special Olympics Brunei Darussalam (SOBD) athletes added two more medals to their tally on Thursday at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens.

Mardiana Mohd Yussap bagged a silver medal in the F02 women's bocce singles event.

Mardiana got her campaign off to a winning start edging Zoe Papatsirou of Greece 6-5 in the opener.

The Bruneian then lost to Bangladesh's Sadia Akhter Urmi 12-3 in the second match.

She bounced back to defeat Kayla McKeon of the United States 8-3 setting up the final against Sadia once again.

She again went down to Sadia in the championship match and had to settle for silver. The final result, however, was not available as of Press time.

Brunei's other medal came courtesy of Aussrine Hj Adanan after she bagged another bronze for the Sultanate in the women's AT softball event.

She managed a throw of 8.07 metres to finish ahead of compatriot Koay Shi Wei, who threw a distance of 7.68m.

Margarita Bogomolova of Uzbekistan won the gold with her throw of 9.03m while Ireland's Amy Quinn pocketed the silver, recording a throw of 8.81m.

Brunei picked up their first medal of the competition when Saifullah Kahar, Li Chun Gid, Mardiana and Nuramaliyana Pg Hj Ibrahim won bronze in the M02 Bocce team event on Tuesday.

They got their campaign off to winning ways with a 10-7 triumph over the team of In Ao Ieong, Cheng Man Chong, Kuok Chi Kin and Lam Hong Chu of Macau.

However, the Brunei team lost 7-6 to eventual winners Australia, represented by Andrew Robbins, Natalie Jansen, Ian Johns and Melissa Lee.

Brunei then failed to bounce back against Macau in their second meeting losing 8-3 to see them take the bronze.

Australia won the gold after edging Macau 8-7 in the final.

An 18-strong Brunei contingent including six officials led by head of delegation Noel Mendiola are attending the June 19-July 5 tournament.

The other athletes flying the Brunei flag include Muhammad Fhadillah Hj Morsidi, Lim Chow Ann, Muhammad Hafiq Zulkifli, Abdul Hakim Hj Mohd Ali, Siti Nur Afifah Abdul Sahak and Nurhamraa' Chaine.

They are pupils of the Special Education Unit, Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam and Pusat Bahagia.

The athletes are competing in bocce and athletics.

Brunei were among the 164 countries and regions that participated at the previous edition of the Special Olympics in Shanghai, China, back in 2007.

The Brunei contingent of 22 athletes and 10 officials, who competed in bocce, athletics and football, returned home with a total medal haul of three gold, four silver and nine bronze medals four years ago.

Despite sending a smaller delegation, the team are aiming to maintain at least a three gold-medal haul this year or better it.

Courtesy from Brunei Times