Members of the Brunei
contingent during the flag
handing ceremony at the
Green Room of the Hassanal
Bolkiah National Stadium in
Berakas on Wednesday.
Brunei will be represented
by eight athletes in four
sports at the 3rd Islamic
Solidarity Games in
Palembang, Indonesia.
Picture: BT/ Md Asdeny Yakub
The targets have been set for the 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Palembang, Indonesia.
Brunei will be represented by eight athletes and competing in four sports athletics, karate, taekwondo and wushu at the Sept 22 - Oct 1 tournament.
They know the level of competition, which comprises 43 countries, and are hoping to get the best out of the multi-sport event.
Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Pg Rositi is the sole representative to fly the flag in athletics as he is set to run the 400-metre event.
The lanky runner is hoping to be able to go faster than his personal best of 48.67s which he set at the 2012 London Olympics.
"I will try my best as usual. Training has been good and I will try to get a new best time," said the 22-year-old, who will be accompanied by national athletics coach, Isidro del Prado.
Siblings Mohammad Fadlah and Muhammad Fida'iy Sanif will fight for glory in karate.
Okhida Simangasing, the national karate coach, feels that that they are ready and is looking at this tournament as a way to further prepare for the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Myanmar in December.
"We are going there in high spirits and confidence. Hopefully we will be able to return with good results," said Okhida after the flag handing ceremony on Wednesday at the Green Room of the Hassanal Bolkiah Stadium in Berakas.
"We are taking this as a way to prepare for the SEA Games considering the high levels of competition," he added.
As for wushu, the trio of Lee YingShi and brothers Md Sufi Shayiran and Mohammad Adi Sya'rani Roslan are the exponents set for the meet.
National wushu coach Li Hui also sees this as a good test ahead of the SEA Games having to face tougher opponents.
"This is a good chance for us to gain more experience ahead of the SEA Games since it is the first time that wushu is being contested at the Games," said Li.
"Chances for a medal is difficult because there will be many strong competitors with so many countries participating especially those from Iran, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia," he added.
"We will take part in seven events altogether and I just hope that the athletes will be able to get good results," continued the Chinese national.
Last but not least, the pair of Mohamad Fathullah Mohamad Taib and Nurulain Md Ja'afar will compete in taekwondo.
Kim Jung Jun, the national taekwando coach, will not let the opportunity go to waste and is looking for his athletes to gain the best experience out of it.
"We are training twice a day and are ready despite tight scheduling here. But we know how strong the competition is going to be with world rank athletes competing there," said Kim.
"My athletes will do their best but I believe we lack the experience compared to the other countries," he added.
"Winning any medal would be a bonus for us there," continued the Korean.
Brunei had competed in the first edition of the Games in Saudi Arabia as well as the Women Islamic Games in Tehran in 2005.
The Sultanate managed a haul of one goal, two silver and two bronze medals from the latter.
The multi-sport event this year is a merger of both competitions.
Saudi Arabia are the defending champions after amassing 24 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze medals from the inaugural edition.
The second edition was originally scheduled for 2009 in Iran and was rescheduled for April 2010 before being cancelled.
The contingent will depart the Sultanate today.
