| Fadhil Yunus |
BRUNEI Darussalam’s mountain bike (MTB) athlete Liyana Zakaria received a sponsorship boost from It’s A Grind Café (IAG) ahead of the upcoming 2018 Asian Enduro Series in Nepal during a cheque presentation ceremony at its Citis Square branch in Berakas recently.
Through the sponsorship, IAG expressed their support to local talent and similarly recognised Liyana’s efforts to put the country on the world map.
The sponsorship covered Liyana’s participation fee with the rider set to compete in the first leg of the series in the women’s open category in MTB, which will be held on April 7 and 8.
Pengiran Haji Matusin bin Pengiran Haji Matasan, IAG Director said, “At IAG, we will do our best to support efforts by athletes to challenge themselves physically and mentally – especially in international sporting events.
“I understand that Liyana will be competing in the ‘Enduro Mountain bike 8 stages’ event with the Himalayas and Mount Everest as a backdrop. It will be a grind, no matter how you do the sums.
“We recognise her courage, sense of adventure and passion in challenging and testing her physical and mental capabilities to the limits against some of the world’s top athletes in this sport. What’s more, she is the first Bruneian ‘woman to race MTB Enduro in Nepal’ as far as we are aware,” he explained.
The director commended efforts to put Brunei on the sporting map and hopes that athletes such as Liyana who are doing their country proud will continue to be supported by the business community in particular.
“We may be a small nation but I am happy to note that our people, such as Liyana, have inversely proportional big hearts, passion and aspirations,” he further explained.
Meanwhile, Liyana conveyed her gratitude to IAG for their unwavering support towards her participation in the international scene.
“I would like to thank IAG for believing in me and supporting my efforts to demonstrate that women’s athletes – even those holding full-time jobs can still, nevertheless, through events such as the Asian Enduro Series pitch themselves against some of the best in the world,” she said.
Liyana has boasted experience in MTB at domestic level managing numerous major scores and recently made her mark when Brunei first hosted the Asian Enduro Series last September where she finished in second place.
The MTB rider also said that the series includes stops in Malaysia and Thailand adding that the competition was introduced in 2016 with the aim of identifying talented talents in Asia.