Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE national sepak takraw team bagged Brunei's first medal at the 33rd SEA Games with a joint-bronze medal in the men's Hoop event on Tuesday.
The team made up of Ak Mohammad Hisyam Pg Hassan, Abdul Hadi Ariffin Matali, Abdul Muiz Nordin, Muhammad Azri Awang Abdul Harith, Mohammad Hafizzuddin Jamaludin and Muhammad Abdul Marteen Hj Asdi tallied a total of score off 500 in the final.
Hosts Thailand won the gold with 880 points followed by Myanmar with 790 points.
The Philippines managed a score of 710 points to take third spot at the Nakhon Pathorm Municipality Sports Center in Nakhon Pathom Province.
The preliminaries on Monday saw five countries vie for top honours with Brunei advancing into the title decider in fourth position with 480 points.
"The athletes have tried their best. There is an increase in terms of points to 500 compared to 480 before," said national sepak takraw coach Abdul Talib Ahmad according to the daily report from the Brunei secretariat.
"Many balls hit the edge of the hoop. In the future we will try to get at least 600 points," he added.
The team will now switch their focus to the Regu event.
