| James Kon |
HIS Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC) delivered a sabda yesterday morning, asking the country’s three Olympians in the recent Rio Games – national badminton player Jaspar Yu Woon Chai, and sprinters Mohd Fakhri bin Ismail and Maizurah binti Abdul Rahim – to continue training and striving for improvement.
His Royal Highness was addressing the athletes at a post-mortem meeting for the Rio Games, which was held at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
During the Olympics, Mohd Fakhri finished with the time of 10.95s in the seventh heat of the 100-metre event, after crossing the finishing line in third place with 10.92s in the preliminary rounds. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Maizurah improved her personal best time to 28.02s in the 200-metre event, compared to her previous record of 28.26s in the Brunei Open 2015.
Jaspar Yu Woon Chai lost both his matches at the Rio Games to a Hong Kong player ranked 12 (16-21, 15-21) and a Spanish player ranked 34 (12-2, 10-21).
During the meeting, His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah also challenged the athletes, saying, “I want you all to work on your performances, to prove to other countries that Brunei is also capable of producing athletes with high potential. Keep up with the training, listen to your coaches’ instructions and always communicate with them to improve your skills.”
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, the President of Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council, attending a post-mortem meeting on the Rio Olympic Games at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium yesterday morning. Among those present was Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. – INFOFOTO
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, the President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council at the post-mortem meeting for Rio Olympic Games. – INFOFOTO
His Royal Highness also stressed on the importance of discipline, adding that the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports would not provide any backing or support to athletes with improper conduct.
Noting some of the weaknesses in the athletes’ performances during the Olympic Games, His Royal Highness encouraged them to work on overcoming their faults, while at the same time warning them not to be too over-confident or lose focus while competing in tournaments.
His Royal Highness told the athletes, “If you all are selected, focus on training for the Southeast Asian Games next year, while Mohd Fakhri should start aiming for the IAAF and IPC 2017 World Championships in London.”
His Royal Highness concluded his sabda, with the hope that the athletes would provide more suggestions and ideas to help with the improvement of their respective training programmes.
The Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, then delivered a speech, stating, “In moving forward from the post-mortem, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports as the ministry in charge of development of sports will continue to work with the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council, as well as sporting associations to overcome constraints that may become obstacles in the future progress of our athletes and sporting associations.”
The Chef-de-Mission for the Brunei Darussalam contingent in the Rio Games, Umi Kalthum binti Haji Abdul Karim, gave a presentation, in which she made a number of suggestions, including specific and effective long-term planning by local sporting associations; performance analysis to identify individual weaknesses; and the application of sports science to improve the overall performance of athletes.
The presentation also highlighted the need for support, assistance and observation from relevant stakeholders in providing potential Olympians with exposure on a regional and international level.
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