Official Website of Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council
NEWS & EVENTS
Low 5 for kempo pair
Sunday, November 20, 2011

Brunei kempo exponents
Rafidah Hj Rosli and Muhamad
Shamsul Makmun in action
yesterday. Picture: BT/ Jason
Thomas

Bruneui's shorinji kempo team finished fifth in the mixed kumi embu (artistic) pair yudansha yesterday to set up a nail-biting final day of action today.

Rafidah Hj Rosli and Muhamad Shamsul Makmun took to the Caricas Sports Hall here for the second round of the 26th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games event after starting the day on fourth after taking into account the scores of Thursday's first round. Both scores were added and divided by two to decide the winners in the seven-team table.

Despite giving it their all, the duo's score of 253 wasn't enough to outclass their rivals.

Indonesia's Dwi Afriyanti and I Made Indrawan won gold with 264.5, with Timor Leste's Domingo Savio and Fidelia da Costa taking silver with 261.5 and Vietnam's Nguyen Tam Thanh Tinh and Tran Thi My Duyen claiming bronze with 256.

The stage is now set for today's second round of the mixed dantai embu (artistic) group yudansha which will be the side's last event where the team will be aiming to win the country its second medal in the sport here at the Games.

Muhamad Shamsul and Muhammad Ali-Rashid Alipah won silver in Friday's kumi embu (artistic) pair yudansha, so another medal might be on the horizon especially since the Sultanate heads into today's competition second behind Indonesia after Thursday's first round.

"Rafidah and Muhamad Shamsul really worked hard to get more points today (Saturday)," explained Brunei Darussalam Shorinji Kempo Federation (Perkeb) vice-president Major Mohd Talip Hj Mohd Tahir.

"They went all-out and put in a good effort to impress the judges

"When you impress the judges there must be an impact, and we really want to have that kind of impact in our last event tomorrow (Sunday).

"We still have a chance at a medal ... Mentally and physically, we are ready to focus for our next event.

"As you know, everyone's hoping kempo will get another medal," added the manager.

The country is currently on two silver and seven bronze medals and a gold medal has yet to materialise.

In all honesty, the Caricas Sports Hall in East Jakarta might not be the place to find it.

Indonesia's team of eight exponents put on a dazzling display of technical prowess during the first round to finish with a perfect score of 270. With five judges in the competition, and each one awarding a maximum of 90 points, the lowest and highest scores are not taken into account the final score is the total of the other three scores.

The hosts picked up four 90s and one 89 on Thursday, their spellbinding confidence and clinical choreography holding hostage those who were fortunate enough to watch them.

Brunei are on 258 and Vietnam are third on 257. The trio are trailed by Laos (255), Timor Leste (253) and Malaysia (247).

All four members of the team including Dzulhusmie Hj Kahan will take to the floor for the routine.

Courtesy from Brunei Times