Crown Prince Opens Shell Rimula Basketball
By Benny Ang

Bandar Seri Begawan - His Royal Highness the Crown Prince Hj AlMuhtadee Billah was on hand to officially open the 3rd Shell Rimula Ultra Invitational Challenge Trophy Basketball Tournament 2003 last night at the National Indoor Stadium.

HRH was the distinguished guest of honour as he officially launched the start of the three-week tournament and proceeded to watch the first match between the defending champions Suncity Dragons and Chuon Tze Twisters.

HRH was also introduced to all the team managers and their members following the march past in which all seven teams took part.

The tournament will be go on until October 26 and will feature seven teams in Suncity Dragons, Chuon Tze Twisters, SYH Tigers, Komala One Stop LSL, Chop Eng Seng Keo L.Mark Express, Gob Brothers Goldsmiths and GKT Construction.

Also in attendance to witness the grand opening ceremony last night was Pehin Dato Hj Awg Hussein, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

On hand to give the welcoming speech was Pg Hj Yasmin Pg Hj Mohamad, Managing Director of Brunei Shell Marketing Co Sdn Bhd, the title sponsor of the tournament.

The tournament is being jointly organised by Sunlit Advertising Sdn Bhd and the Bandar Seri Begawan Amateur Basketball Association and is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

The competition will feature a total of 17 non-Asian import players, which is a massive increase from last year meaning that the standard of competition this year will be a lot closer than last year's.

According to Mr. Jackson Ting, Joint Organising Chairman of the Main Organising Committee, the committee is extremely pleased with the outcome so far and is expecting good turnouts over the next few weeks.

"We really believe that this tournament has taken on a whole different persona now since its inception a couple of years ago. It has grown beyond our expectations, which proves that basketball is indeed a very popular sport in Brunei. Every team has made such a tremendous effort to improve their team and make it a competitive one.

"It is great for the organizing committee and it is great for the people of Brunei to have such a tournament to enjoy. We are confident that this tournament can continue to grow in the coming years," said Mr. Ting.

The tournament will enter its second day today with CESK L.Mark Lakers taking on GKT Construction in the opening match and the SYH Tigers facing Goh Brothers Goldsmiths in the second match. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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