Indonesia Champions
By Dannie Abu Basrah

Bandar Seri Begawan - Indonesia emerged as the winner of the Asian Under-16 Mixed Team Events for the Southeast Asian region after they defeated fellow region powerhouse Malaysia 3-2 in a nail-biting final at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex on Sunday.

The two-day competition was participated by six countries namely Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia. Vietnam. Thailand and host Brunei. The meet is part of a qualifying tournament with the ton three winners proceeding to the three-dal finals in Shenzhen in China's Guangdong province from Dec 15.

The meet was organised by Badminton Asia Confederation in collaboration with the Brunei Darussalam National Badminton Association and the Department of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

The six teams were divided into two groups of three playing on a round robin format before the top two teams move on to the semifinal stage. Brunei were placed in Group B alongside Indonesia and Thailand while Group A was made of Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.

Brunei failed to proceed to the next stage as they were defeated 5-0 in both group games against Indonesia and Thailand.

In the thrilling final, Indonesia took a 2-0 advantage after their shuttlers emerged victorious in the Mixed Doubles and Boy's Singles before Malaysia's Tee JingY denied them a third straight win, beating Debby Angguni in the Girl's Singles to make it 2-i.

Malaysia then were inspired with a win in the following Boy's Doubles, trailing from 2-0 to level the score 2-2 with the climax only to be decided in the Girl's Doubles.

The fifth game continued to offer a dramatic finale with the game played in rubber sets that was eventually won by Indonesia's Della D and Claudia edging Tee JingYi and Lim Ee Von of Malaysia 25-23, 20-22 and 21-17.

Meanwhile, Thailand won the third place after beating Vietnam 3-0 courtesy of wins in the Boy's Singles, Girl's Singles and Boy's Doubles.

Present as the guest-of-honour during the final match who also presented the medals was the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Pehin Major General (R) Dato Seri Pahlawan Awang Haji Mohammad bin Haji Daud. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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