Brunei's Local News - Brudirect.com

Bandar Seri Begawan - Tanjung Benoa, Bali - Muhammad Khairul Durahman of Brunei Darussalam bagged the bronze medal in the Asian Beach Games here on Sunday, according to the Jakarta Post.

Md Khairul, an army private in the Brunei defence force, collected 440 points. He said he is satisfied with the result.

But the artistic category is based on the subjective opinion of the jury, he said, who can sometimes deliver unpredictable decisions.

"The beach pencak silat is of course harder than usual pencak silat, but that's not the problem," said Khairul,. "The problem is that it depends on the subjectivity of the jury."

Coach Dani Wisnu rejectut Durahman's view. He said technical skills in pencak silat could be measured.

"It's not-totally true," he said; "Of course the jury has their own subjectivity, but they also have guidelines and rules to measure the performance of the athletes.

"Nevertheless, today's games clearly show that our athletes were dominant in terms of technique and stamina."

A 1-7-person Brunei contingent is competing in Pencek Silat and Sepak Takraw in the 1st Asian Beach games from Oct 18-26. Awang Abdul Malik Bin Hj Mohamed, Chef de Mission, said " the inaugural beach games is a newly introduce even this year. Since it's a very new sport, I feel that everyone including Brunei Darussalam will have an equal chance of winning. Our athletes have been training very hard in local beaches for the past months in order to be familiar with the condition of competing on the sandy ground."

Recreational sports on beaches have a huge potential to be developed because many countries in Asia have coastal areas, he said.

Are competing in 15 games including beach handball, kabbadi, soccer, volleyball, wrestling, body building, dragon boat racing, jet skis, marathon swimming, paragliding, sailing, surfing, triathlon, windsurfing and woodball.

Balinese pencak silat athletes led Indonesia's medal hunt, winning the first two gold medals at stake in the martial arts competition, The Jakarta Post reported.

Gusti Ngurah Arya Yudapandita gave a breathtaking performance at his international debut to grab their first gold for the national squad.

Competing in the men's singles artistic category, Yudapandita silenced the cheering crowd at Tanjung Benoa Beach near Nusa Dua with his skillful movements.

The jury awarded him 457 points and the gold medal. Anh Nguyen Viet of Vietnam scored 450 for the silver.

"I couldn't be happier. This is my first international event and I won the gold Yudapandita said. In the recent National Games I only took silver, but three months of training helped me prepare for this event very well."

Indonesia's celebrations lasted longer as the women's doubles artistic team, Sang Ayu Ketut Sidan and Ni Made Dwiyanti, booked the second gold medal.

Sidan and Dwiyanti earned 570 points to top Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Binh and Thao Vu Thi, who scored 562 for the silver and Malaysia's Maslinda Zakaria and Kamilah Sulong, who collected 535 points for the bronze.

The medal presentation of the first gold medal of the Bali Asian Beach Games was attended by the Olympic Council of Asia president Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah and director general of Bali Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee (BABGOC).

"Today, Indonesia wons two gold medals which (in the past) they could only have won at regional games," Sheik Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah told The Jakarta Post. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin