Brunei's Karate Exponents Target Sea Games After Doha Adventure
By Jason Thomas

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei's hopes of its first medal in the 15th Asian Games in Doha were dashed late Tuesday night at the Qatar Sports Club Indoor Hall, as Eddie Jofraini Johari was denied a bronze medal when he lost to Vietnam's Nguyen Pham Tran 7-1 in the Men's Kumite 55kg Repechage.

To qualify for that shot at the medal, Eddie had to go through two matches against world class opponents. On the way to winning his first match 5-3 against Pakistani Saadi Abbas in the Men's Kumite 55kg quarter-final match, he however suffered an eye in jury because of an illegal hit.

Eddie Jofraini had revenge on his mind as he fought the Pakistani, after his compatriot Abdul Malik 'Mohd Zaini put up a valiant fight in Tuesday afternoon's Men's individual Kata against Pakistan's Ali Ghulam, but lost 3-2.

Undaunted by the injury, Eddie progressed to the quarterfinal match where he fought against Malaysia's best karate prospect in team captain and Busan 2002 gold medalist, Puvaneswaran Ramasamy.

Ramasamy, the experienced 32-year-old who is contesting in his fourth Asian Games in the kumite 55kg category, is a Southeast Asian (Sea) Games and Asian Championship winner.

Tuesday's encounter between the two was not the first, as Eddie fought Ramasamy in last year's finals of the Men's Kumite 55kg. in the Sea Games in the Philippines.

"Both Eddie and Puvaneswaran have fought against each other before, so they are familiar with the techniques and styles of each other," commented team manager, Hj Sayed Jefferydean bin Hj Said Mohammad. Fddie Tnfraini came out second best in that match, and was forced to settle for a silver medal. Sadly, history repeated itself in Doha, when the Bruneian lost to Ramasamy 4-3 and was forced to settle for a. berth in the battle for bronze against Vietnam's Nguyen.

Ramasamy went on to fight Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Cheng Kang in the finals, but was unable to defend his title as he lost 3-2.

"Eddie's eye injury, as expected, was a big problem for him," said Sayed, who added that Eddie was fighting through blurry vision against the Malaysian.

"Even in the match against the Vietnamese, Eddie still hadn't recovered and was trying hard to keep focused, but as you can imagine, it was very hard," Sayed said. Sayed, a qualified Australian Karate Federation referee and Brunei's referee representative in Doha remarked that the karate exponents only had 30 minutes between matches to recover, but that was the norm in international competitions. "Eddie is really disappointed with the loss, especially since he and his teammates trained so hard for Doha," said Sayed.

"I just want to say I really appreciate Eddie's competitive spirit, and even though he was fighting injured, he gave it his all."

Just like Abdul Malik, Sayed said that Eddie would not let the loss have an adverse affect on his game, and was confident that he would continue to do his best and train whole heartedly for the Sea Games in Thailand next December.

"He has accepted the loss, and said he'll try to improve for future competitions." The hopes of the nation now lie on the shoulders of the only other Bruneian athletes still in contention for medals in Doha, Mohd Fazil Rewandie and Mohd Sofian Abdullah.

Mohd Fazil Rewandie faces United Arab Emirate's Hussen Samir Jumaa today evening in the, kumite 75kg category quarter-final match, and Mohd Sofian Abdullah will fight Indonesia's Umar Syarief in the kumite 80kg category quarterfinals.

Although the match against the Indonesian will be a quarterfinals match up, it is Mohd Sofian's first in Doha, so the pressure is on for a victory and a spot in the semi-finals. The cold weather which had been hampering their training sessions when the karate team first arrived in Doha last Saturday is now a thing d~ the past, so Mohd Fazil and Mohd Sofian will have no excuses.

"Although it is warm and windy in the day time, the nights are really cold," remarked Sayed.  -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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