| Fadhil Yunus |
THE inaugural Brunei Petanque League 2016 was launched yesterday at the Petanque Field of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex.
The guest of honour during the ceremony was Mariam binti Ulat, Acting Director of Youth and Sports at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
The first ever national league which is open for the singles event has so far attracted a total of 19 entries in search for ranking points with more players expected to join in the coming months.
With the month of July already passed, the league continues until this December when the overall winner is expected to be announced after accumulating their ranking points between the July and December period.
In a similar style to cycling, the monthly winner will be awarded the coveted yellow jersey and is likely to be worn in the following month when they defend their ranking spot.
With players divided into several groups in the opening rounds, the four best players will be entered in the semi-finals and subsequently the winner will advance to the final to vie for the monthly title.
“The Brunei Petanque League is held specially to develop petanque in the country and hopefully the league championship can attract more players and petanque enthusiasts,” Haji Rosmin bin Haji Mohd Hassan, Secretary General of the Brunei Darussalam Petanque Federation said in an interview with the Bulletin yesterday.
Mariam binti Ulat, Acting Director of Youth and Sports, tosses a hollow steel ball to mark the start of the Brunei Petanque League. – FADHIL YUNUS
“The Brunei Petanque League is a step forward as carried out by more developed countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. They also organised the league and from there the players will constantly play,” he further added.
“The league system allows players to that play continuously so from there it shows that petanque is actively run every month.”
The Secretary General added that the ranking will differ every month unless there is a consistent performance for each player and only the top 16 players will be awarded ranking points even if the list exceeds more than 16 players.
The overall winner will be awarded a championship trophy, jerseys for their monthly wins as well as cash prizes set by the BDPF.
The Brunei Petanque League 2016 is organised by the Brunei Darussalam Petanque Federation.
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