HRH Prince Sufri with the SEA Games-bound karatekas

Bandar Seri Begawan - His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council visited the pencak silat and karate-do athletes at the National Indoor Stadium yesterday to cap off a series of visits to have a closer look on Brunei's preparation for the 25th SEA Games in Laos from Dec 9-18.

The pencak flat coach Suhartono from Indonesia briefed HRH Prince Sufri on the progress and training of the athletes.

This year, a total of nine athletes will be representing Brunei at the games. The men athletes are Amirul bin Alat (category A 45-50kg Tanding), Mohammad Amali bin Hj Malek (category B 50-55kg Tanding), Khuzaiman bin Ahmad (category D 60- 65kg Tanding), Md Kifli bin Hj Hamzah (category E 65-70kg Tanding), Pg Khairul Bahri bin Pg Ali Umar (category F 70-75kg Tanding), Freddy Ashrul Choo (category G 75-80kg Tanding) and Hj Md Khairul Bahrin bin Hj Duraman will be taking part in Tunggal Seni.

In the women's category, Brunei will be represented by Siti Zuliza Omar (category B 50-55kg Tanding) and Norleyermah binti Hj Raya (Tunggal Seni).

HRH Prince Sufri witnessed various silat techniques in demonstrations and also spoke to the athletes. HRH also shown keen interest in the equipments used.

At the karate-do training session, HRH Prince Sufri was briefed on the team's preparation by the manager Hj Sayed Mohammed Hj Sayed Othman.

Brunei will be sending eight karatekas to the games. The men karatekas are Mohammad Fadilah bin Sanif (under 67kg), Muhammad Fidaly bin Saif (under 60kg), Eddie Jofriani Johari (under 55kg), Mainudin bin Mohamad (under 75kg), Mohammad Jamil bin hj abd Hamid (over 84kg) and Mohammad Fazil Rewandie bin Mohd Faizal (under 84kg).

The women karatekas are Masdiana binti Hj Tengah (under 50kg) and Mainudin - bin Hj Mohamad (over 75kg).

Present to accompany HRH during the visit were Pehin Orang Kaya Setia Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Awang Ahmad bin Hj Jumat, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dato Paduka Hj Jemat bin Hj Ampal, the Permanent Secretary of Culture, Youth and Sports, Hj Mohammad Hj Abdul Rahman, Acting Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture Youth & Sports, Hj Mohammad bin Panglima Asgar Dato Paduka Hj Abdullah, the Director of Youth and Sports, Pengiran Sabri bin Pengiran Hj Mohammad, the Deputy Director of Youth I, Hj Muhd Zamri bin Dato Paduka Hj Hamdani, the Deputy Director II of Youth and Sports in his capacity as chef-de-mission of the Brunei contingent.

After the visit, karatedo manager Hj Sayed Mohammed said: "We are ready, our team are prepared and 90 percent we can obtain medals."

"All the athletes are in top shape since they have been continuously training for one and a half years. One of the karatekas, Muhammad Fidaly, won silver at the 9th Senior Asian Karatedo Federation Championship this year which was a great achievement considering 33 countries took part in the tournament," he said.

"To toughen up the athletes, we went to Surabaya for three weeks to get more experience and instill confidence. We just came back yesterday from the training," he added.

Meanwhile the coach of pencak silat, Suhartono, in a separate .interview said: "Our team will be aiming for gold medals in the SEA Games. Our athletes are ready and prepared."

"I know that we can match up with Thailand bait will be tough against Vietnam (world champion) and Indonesia. Both are very strong and their exponents are of international standard." -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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