It was a disappointing campaign for Brunei at the recently concluded Asian Petanque Championship in Bali, Indonesia, after both the country's men's and women's team failed to get past the first round of their respective events.
The country has reached the last eight for the past three years, so this year's result must have come as something of a surprise.
Awg Badarudin Hj Murni, Hj Mohammad Sahmedeyn Hj Kahar, Hj Mohd Azlan Hj Awg Jali and Masli Hj Mohammad Said lost all three of their group matches in the men's triple category last Monday.
They started off their campaign with a 13-3 defeat to Thailand and went on to lose their second game 13-7 to Australia before falling 13-6 to the Philippines.
Meanwhile in the women's triple category, the team of Hjh Syahrinawati Yahya, Muslinah Amran, Norhani Hj Juna and Nurhafizah Abdul Razak managed to notch one win and two losses.
They defeated Mongolia 13-3 in their first match before losing 13-11 to Malaysia and 13-0 to China.
Captain Mazlan Hj Yahya sat out the tournament after picking up a hand injury during training prior to the match day and took the role as the team's coach instead.
"I was disappointed not to be able to take part in the tournament because of the injury," said Mazlan.
"I injured my hand during training and got a big cut and bruise near my left wrist.
"I want to compete but manager Hj Abdul Karim Hj Ahmad advised me not to.
"(Nevertheless) it was a very good experience for the new players as they were grouped with stronger teams like Thailand, Malaysia and Australia in the tournament - and they learned a lot competing with these players.
"Our new players are very talented, but they do not have the mentality to go all out and win the competition yet. This will only develop after years of practice and tournaments," added Mazlan.
Chinese Taipei, India, Japan, Madagascar and New Zealand were among the other teams that joined the rest of the ASEAN countries at the October 22-28 tournament.
Brunei's best achievement was winning silver in the triples event during the 2009 edition of the tournament held in Bangkok, Thailand, when Mazlan, Pg Hj Asmalina Pg Hj Asmalina and Mohd Abdillah Tamin were denied gold by Vietnam in the final - which they lost 13-5.
The Asian Championship is an annual tournament organised by the Asian Petanque and Sports Boules Confederation.
