HRH Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the BDNOC, during yesterday's post-mortem at the Lecture Theatre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas to assess Brunei's performance at June's 28th SEA Games in Singapore. BT/Ridhwan Kamarulzaman
An athlete makes a statement during the question and answer portion of yesterday's post-mortem at the Lecture Theatre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas to assess Brunei's performance at the SEA Games. BT/Ridhwan Kamarulzaman
HIS Royal Highness Prince Hj Sufri Bolkiah stressed the importance of having a post-mortem soon after each sport competition.
The President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC) said this during a post-mortem yesterday conducted by the Department of Youth and Sports (JBS) to assess Brunei's performance at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in Singapore from June 5-16.
It has been almost three years since the last post-mortem was held on Oct 22, 2012 for two events - the 2012 London Olympics and 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China.
"We should have a post-mortem soon after each competition so that we can discuss the performances in order to be able to better it," said HRH at the Lecture Theatre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
MCYS spent a total of $574,245 in preparation for June's SEA Games, where they had 73 athletes competing in 13 sports. However, they only managed to return home with a haul of one silver and six bronze medals.
The only silver medal came courtesy of Nurulain Hj Mohd Jaafar after she received a bye in the semi-finals of the women's under-62kg taekwando event. She was then knocked out 22-0 by Vietnam's Ha Thi Nguyen in the final at the Singapore Expo to finish runner-up in the three-competitor event.
The wushu and sepak takraw teams bagged two bronze medals each while the other two were from netball and pencak silat. HRH had previously expressed to The Brunei Times his disappointment with the overall performance of the Sultanate at the Games.
HRH yesterday pointed out the factors that led to their poor performance which saw the country finish 10th in the 11-country table. "I think the athletes' lack of commitment, weak mentality and low confidence are the main factors for the poor performance," said HRH.
"They also need to be more responsible and transparent whether they are really ready to join the Games in the future. "Participation is not just for fun. The athletes must have commitment and a strong fighting spirit.
"They need to be at 'full force' or go 'all out'. The objective shouldn't be only for setting a new national record or personal best. It should be about winning," added HRH. The BDNOC president also urged athletes to step forward should there be any injuries prior to the Games.
"There should be criteria to test the fitness to ensure that the athlete is not injured. Wushu, pencak silat, taekwando and athletics were reported to be injured before the SEA Games began. "We don't want to hear the excuses of injuries. In the future, all athletes have to report themselves if they injured.
"The coaches or SMRC (Sports Medicine Research Centre) will be the ones to do the evaluation if they are indeed fit," continued HRH, who went through all 13 sports one by one and received feedback.
The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Yang Berhormat Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Laila Diraja Dato Seri Setia Hj Hazair Hj Abdullah and deputy minister Datin Paduka Hjh Adina Othman were also in attendance, together with other senior BDNOC and MCYS officials as well as most of the contingent.
