The 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games is over for Mohammad Saifullah Hj Mohtar (pix, left) after he lost his one and only match yesterday though he will still return home with a bronze medal.

One of two Brunei taekwondo exponents in Jakarta, Mohammad Saifullah who turns 21 on Nov 30 was sent packing after a 9-2 loss to Thailand's Nattapat Tantramar in the welterweight (74-80kg) category.

Mohammad Saifullah will share the medal with the other losing semi-finalist, Vietnam's Vo Hoang Giao who was defeated by Laos' Phimmasone Sawatvi.

Both Mohammad Saifullah and Hoang Giao were given byes to the semis and did not compete in the first round (quarter-finals) at the Popki Sports Hall in Cibubur, here.

Nattapat went on to win gold after beating Phimmasone in the final.

Brunei's hopes for more medals the country now has one silver and two bronze now lie on the shoulders of Mohd Fathullah Mohd Taib, who will be competing in the bantam weight (58-63kg) category tomorrow.

Having seen action in the last edition of the SEA Games in Laos in 2009, Mohd Fathullah is currently the most experienced taekwondo exponent in the Sultanate.

His first major event, he was eliminated by Singapore's Jason Tan in the quarter-finals of the men's fin weight (below 54kg) category after an 11-1 beating.

Other tournaments under his belt include last year's 2010 Yeongcheon 1st International Club Open Taekwondo Championships in Yeongcheon, South Korea, 1st India Open International Taekwondo Championships in Bengaluru, India, and Sarawak International Open Championship in Kuching, Malaysia.

In other news, Xinhua news agency yesterday reported that Singapore has been given the green light to host the 2015 SEA Games.

Quoting Singapore daily Straits Times, Xinhua stated that the Southeast Asian Games Federation approved the republic's bid to host the biennial event at a meeting in Palembang, Indonesia, on Saturday evening.

"Our neighbours in Asean have agreed for us to host the Games and we're grateful for that," Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also president of the Singapore National Olympic Council, was quoted as saying. Singapore first expressed interest in February to stage the event after the original host Cambodia said it did not have the resources to do it, and officially announced its bid last week. No other countries were bidding.

Courtesy from Brunei Times