The postponement of the 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games may be seen as a 'blessing in disguise'.

The Games which was supposed to be held in Pekanbaru, the capital of Indonesia's Riau province, from June 6-17 has been moved to a further date following "technical reasons".

The Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BNOC) received the confirmation via email from Anthony Sunaryo, the chairman of the Indonesia Islamic Solidarity Games Organising Committee 2013 (INAISGOC2013) earlier in the week.

His Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the BNOC, felt that this could be a good thing.

"We have to accept it that they are not ready. They will inform us once the new date has been set," said HRH in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"This could be a blessing in disguise for us because our athletes have more time to prepare themselves," added the Prince.

"They will continue with working with their training programmes prepared by their coaches," continued HRH.

It was reported early in the month that sub-contractors hired to build the main stadium closed it in protest at not being paid in full.

The Games have been tentatively rescheduled to take place in October after the holy month of Ramadhan and Aidilfitri celebrations in July and August respectively.

The Sultanate had shortlisted six sports wushu, pencak silat, taekwondo, karate, sepak takraw and athletics to be contested at the tournament.

This is the second time that the Games had been postponed. The 2009 edition was also postponed for a year and then cancelled due to an internal dispute.

Meanwhile, there are no updates regarding the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea from June 29 to July 6 despite headlines of North Korea declaring a "State of War" with the South.

"For us, we are ready unless we receive news from the other side (organisers) that it is a bit dangerous to come," said HRH, who is also the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) President.

"Then we will consider whether we will send the athletes because it has been so far so good," concluded the Prince.

Swimming, cue sports and chess are the three sports nominated for the competition.

Courtesy from Brunei Times