| James Kon |
CHIN Sin Voon, Brunei’s Top Go player has achieved yet another feat for the country by finishing in 39th place out of 56 at the 37th World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC), which is the best result so far for Brunei in its fourth year of participation.
Chin Sin Voon managed to defeat players from Portugal, Lithuania and South Africa, but lost a nail-biting match against Colombia with a score of 6.5.
Accompanying Chin to the championships at Wu Xi City, China from June 4-9, was Lim Chai Hui, the President of the Brunei Darussalam Go Association (BDGA).
In an interview, Chin said, “I feel like I could have gotten four wins with better results in the match against Colombia, which I lost after a great lead from the start.
“It was a great experience pitting Brunei’s best players with global rivals. Despite our association still being new and lacking in resources, we still managed to stand somewhere in global rankings.”
Aside from the tournament, “I also tried to build a friendly network with the Chinese Weiqi Association, which I hope will assist the development of Go in Brunei.”
Chin Sin Voon competing at the 37th World Amateur Go Championship. – PHOTOS: BDGA
Lim Chai Hui, President of the Brunei Darussalam Go Association (BDGA) (L) and Chin Sin Voon (C) at the CITIC Securities Cup in China
The WAGC, first held in 1979, is currently the world most iconic amateur Go tournament. This year, 56 countries and regions from Asia, European, North and South America, South Africa and Australia took part.
The tournament also featured three 13-year-olds from Southeast Asia: Raffia Shidqi Fitrah (5-dan) from Indonesia, Chang Fu Kang (5-dan) from Malaysia and Nhat Minh Vo (4-dan) from Vietnam.
During the final round, Bai Bao Xiang (8-dan) won against Hsu Chia Cheng (7-dan) and achieved clean victories of eight rounds. Kim Ki-Baek from Korea took second, and while Hsu Chia Cheng from Taiwan placed third.
This is the second title Bai Bao-Xiang has won in a WAGC tournament, having won before in Japan in 2011, for which he was granted the ranking of Amateur 8-dan.
The President of BDGA said, “Our association is still very inexperienced and we are hoping to work with China, Japan or Korea to invite professional teachers and coaches to Brunei in order to do better in future.
“Go may be the oldest board game, but it is definitely new in Brunei. BDGA has faced many financial challenges, including lack of equipment and is putting a lot of effort to promote this fascinating game locally. Currently, the BDGA is offering free lessons for anyone who is interested.”
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