| Fadhil Yunus |
HIS Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam yesterday consented to present the championship trophy to Laksamana Sinapuan Sarawak, the winner of the 30-Rower Traditional Boat Race Marathon of the Regatta in conjunction with the Golden Jubilee Celebration of His Majesty’s Accession to the Throne along the Brunei River.
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office presented trophies to the winners in the morning session of the regatta.
Laksamana Sinapuan Sarawak fended off competition from the local teams by a significant distance as well as other overseas teams with home favourite Lela Cheteria, who recently bagged trophies in the International Dragon Boat Race, falling to a distant third.
Mukim Saba finished as first runners-up in the marathon – a grand finale of the day-long competition – earning the honour as the best local team in the race.
The invited team from Sarawak, who also last featured in the Kuching Regatta a week ago, enjoyed immediate success in the Sultanate in their maiden appearance to go along with their other accomplishments overseas.
Asked about the benefits of organising such a tournament, team manager of Laksamana Sinapuan Sarawak Datu Sajeli Kipli said that it promotes spirit of neighbourliness between the two close allies.
“A big function like this will provide opportunities for people to visit their relatives. This kind of event is very good for the economy and social interaction as well as maintaining good neighbourliness,” said Datu Sajeli in an interview with the Bulletin.
“We have come all the way just to be a part of the party that makes this occasion a success,” he continued.
“Actually, we are confident because the team has been training specifically for the Sarawak Regatta. We’ve been training for three months and by coincidence the Golden Jubilee Regatta was held about a week after the Sarawak Regatta.
“That’s why in a way we have a slight advantage because we have the momentum and we also have stamina.”
The newly-crowned winners will continue with their preparations if they embark a title defence in Brunei next year for a similar race with Datu Sajeli outlining plans to introduce new blood in the team.
“We’ll come back and make an even better preparation next year. Maybe we will bring the young players to be absorbed into the team. Our performance was very good, but of course I told the boys that they can always do better. They did very well today considering they just came back from another Regatta,” he said.
GATA Brunei emerged winners of the 20-Rower Under-30 Youth Fibreglass category after clocking a time of 10:16:84 while Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) won the 15-Rower Higher Education Institutions Fibreglass category after posting a time of 6:10:88.
Meanwhile, other winners also included Laksamana Sinapuan Sarawak in the 30-Rower Traditional Open, 20-Rower Youth Open Fibreglass and the 25-Rower Traditional Open; Ministry of Defence in the 25-Rower Inter-Ministry Traditional; Ikan Paus of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces Sports Council (MS ABDB) in the 15-Rower Under-30 Youth Fibreglass category; SPSS in the 20-Rower Private Companies Fibreglass category; and the Brunei-Muara District in the 20-Rower District Fibreglass category.
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