| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam fell to a 21- 13 21- 12 defeat to Myanmar in the Group B preliminaries of the men’s regu beach sepak takraw in the 5th Asian Beach Games at the My Khe Beach in Da Nang, Vietnam yesterday.
Brunei saved two match points in the final set but Myanmar grabbed the win as the former face the risk of elimination.
Myanmar had taken a commanding 10-4 lead before completing the first set by racking four consecutive points in a match which lasted 32 minutes.
The men’s trio gold medallists continued their rich vein in form in the second set establishing an 11-6 in the halfway mark before gaining a whooping 10 match points.
Meanwhile in the other Group B match, Indonesia overcame Nepal 21-17 24-22 to join Myanmar at the top of the table.
Having secured men’s trio bronze, Brunei face a greater challenge on extending their stay in the competition requiring wins from both Nepal and Indonesia today to guarantee a second medal.
Brunei men’s regu players prior to the Myanmar group game. – BD
Brunei only took part in the beach sepak takraw in this year’s edition featuring feeder Hadi Ariffin Abdul Matali, tekong Mohd Alliffuddin Jamaludin and killers Hidayat Zatie Saidi and Mohammad Selamat Yakup.
Myanmar currently top the medal charts with a gold and silver each and look in firm position of staying that way after the women’s team also secured an opening group game win over China.
Brunei has accomplished yet another bronze in the Asian Beach Games ensuring that they continue the trend of not leaving empty-handed- their fourth since they first appeared in the inaugural meet- but could create more history if they overcome the difficulty and reach Thursday’s semi-final draw.
The four-time bronze medallists recorded a historic feat after winning gold in the men’s trio in Phuket, Thailand in 2014 after beating South Korea 21-18 21-23 21-15 in the final.
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