A total of 12 ladies and 10 boys under 21 years old took part in the Women's Individual Open and the U-21 Boys categories of the 36th National Day Squash Tournament today. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Brunei Darussalam and following the official directive from the government, all sporting events in the country has to be halted starting tomorrow. However, we manage to play out most of the matches before we close this evening. As of today, the Women's Individual Open has reached the semi-finals stage while the U-21 Boys has reached the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals of the Women's Open Category this evening, Hamidah Ismail defeated Sofia Sim with scores 11-2, 11-6, 11-2. In the other semi-final bracket, Catherine Carter will meet Nur Aqilah for a chance to be in the final against Hamidah. In the U-21 Boys Category, the semi-finals will see Alexander Yong up against Will Thacker while Otto Wiseman will meet Alexander Wiseman.
In the Men's Event, team Squash Court Warriors will be up against SUPERNICKS while The UnSquashable will meet team Double Dot. The other four teams will also be competing for the 5th to 8th placing.
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The 36th National Day Squash Tournament 2020 has began starting with the Men's Team event. A total of eight teams will battle each other out in the initial group stage tonight. Here are the teams in their team colours! By Fadhil Yunus of Borneo Bulletin Brunei Darussalam’s squash duo Abang Huzairie bin Abang Haji Ali and Abang Md Safwan bin Abang Kifrawi delivered a 36th National Day gift to their country after they bagged bronze at the 6th Southeast Asia (SEA) Cup Squash Championships in Bangkok, Thailand. Abang Huzairie and Abang Md Safwan, the country’s leading names in the domestic scene, also made history after winning the country’s first SEA Cup medal in the Men’s Jumbo Doubles. The partnership of Abang Huzairie and Abang Md Safwan managed a win against Thailand and two losses against the Philippines and Indonesia in the regional meet. The pair competed in the Men’s Jumbo Doubles while newcomer Alexander Yong Zhi Juan and Md Dzulazmi Mutalib registered in the men’s singles. The Bruneian duo enjoyed a victory against hosts Thailand’s Natthakit Jivasuwan and Louis Boonsinsook and lost twice to top seed Philippines comprising the duo of Robert Garcia and David William Pelino and Indonesia’s Satria Laksana and Agung Wilant. Meanwhile, in the men’s individual category, Brunei’s young squash player Alexander, who was making his first international appearance, lost his opening round.
However, the 14-year-old bounced back after winning his subsequent match to help push him into the top 10 in the draw. His compatriot Dzulazmi lost his quarter-finals match but won his 5th-8th placing match to earn a final seeding of sixth place. Brunei coach Pengiran Md Hasnan bin Pengiran Anak Haji Rozanan said, “I feel proud when we see our flag up there and the players also received the medals on the same day as the 36th National Day.” Organised by the Southeast Asian Squash Federation (SEA SF), the tournament attracted six countries namely Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and hosts Thailand. The individual competition began from the round of 16 onwards while the jumbo doubles featured countries from Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. By Fadhil Yunus of Borneo Bulletin Brunei Darussalam’s squash player Lim Kok Sheng fought admirably in the men’s open consolation event quarterfinals of the 3rd Squash Thailand Open despite being nagged by injury but ended in retirement in the deciding set against Indonesia’s Dheny Chalvin at the Ambassador City Jomtien in Pattaya, Thailand yesterday. The squash player encountered problems with his ankle but managed to claw his way back into contention having edged the Indonesian in the fourth set to bring the game to a decider. Dheny clinched the opening set 11-8 before Lim matched him with an identical set score in the second set. The Indonesian moved in front in style with a 11-2 set win before the Bruneian battled back. The Bruneian shocked the crowd including his coach after recovering from a 4-0 deficit in the fourth set and caused his opponent problems. His coach Pengiran Hasnan bin Pengiran Anak Haji Rozanan heaped praise and labelled his heroics in the fourth set as the best he has seen from him. Pengiran Hasnan said, “Lim performed his best in the quarterfinals. He managed to overtake his opponent’s game plan in set two. He started to get his moves but then he started to feel pain in his ankle. “He didn’t realise when he made the wrong step. He started to lose momentum in set 3. In set 4, I was not expecting him to push himself.”
He continued, “He made his opponent struggle moving front and back of the court. I’ve never seen him play that way before. It was simply the best I’ve ever seen. “In the decider, it was a bit tough for him to move his leg. Then he decided to call off the game and retire.” Number one seed Japan’s Tomotaka Endo booked a berth in the last four of the men’s open event after he navigated his way past Malaysia’s number five seed Mohd Farez Izwan in an 11-5, 13-11, 6-11, 11-6 win. He will meet Philippines’ number three seed Robert Andrew Garcia for a place in the final. Meanwhile, in the other side of the draw, Japan’s number two seed Naoki Hayashi will play Malaysia’s sixth seed Elvinn Keo in the semi-finals. Elvinn had earlier ended a fairy-tale run from his compatriot Sudesh Kannah, who stunned fourth seed Singapore’s Chua Man Tong and Thailand’s ninth seed Natthakit Jivasuwan with victories in straight sets in the earlier rounds. FIVE Brunei national squash players left for Manila yesterday to compete in the 5th SEA Cup Squash Championship 2019 held at Kerry Sports, Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila from tomorrow until April 13.
They are Abang Md Huzairie bin Abang Md Ali, Haji Md Saiful Rizal bin Haji Md Ali, Pengiran Md Khairul Amir bin Pengiran Md Alam, Hamidah binti Haji Ismail and Pengiran Amal Najwana binti Pengiran Haji Ali. The Brunei contingent is accompanied by their coach Pengiran Md Hasnan bin Pengiran Anak Haji Rozanan. Present at the Brunei International Airport to see them off were President of Brunei Squash Racket Association (BSRA) Haji Abdul Mateen bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Md Yusuf, Special Duties Officer at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Pengiran Haji Mohamad Azlan bin Pengiran Haji Tengah Omar and Executive Committee member of the BSRA Pengiran Haji Tajuddin bin Pengiran Haji Adi. The players are supported by the Youth and Sports Department. At the 5th SEA Cup Squash Championship, the players will compete against professional squash players from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and host country the Philippines. They will compete in three categories – Men’s Single, Women’s Single and Mix Team. Their participation in the competition aimed to give them more exposure and prepare them for the upcoming SEA Games in Manila in November. By Khairil Hassan of Borneo Bulletin FORTY squash players participated in the Invitational Squash Championship held in conjunction with the 35th National Day at the National Squash Centre of Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex yesterday. Four categories were contested: Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Men’s Division 1 and Men’s Masters. The tournament saw the participation of Malaysian professional squash players such as Sanjay Singh Chal and 2019 British Junior Open under-13 finalist Harith Danial Jefri. Sanjay Singh Chal emerged champion of the Men’s Open Category after beating Harith Danial Jefri 3-0 with scores 11-3, 11-5, 11-5. Bruneians Haji Saiful Rizal bin Haji Ali took third place and fourth place went to Abang Md Huzairie bin Abang Md Ali. Jovyn Lau Wen Yee of Malaysia beat England’s Catherine Carter in straight sets to win the Women’s Open category with scores 11-6, 11-4, 11-1. Jormasnidah Jormasie of Brunei finished third, followed by Nuraini binti Abdul Zabar. In the Men’s Division 1 category, Dominic Wong of Brunei won after defeating Lieutenant Colonel (Rtd) Haji Jamaluddin bin Ghafar 3-0 (11-7, 119, 11-8). In third place was Brunei’s Alvin Hong and Ryan Brian Buckol of Malaysia settled at fourth.
Brunei’s Haji Md Sufri bin Haji Abdul Hamid emerged champion of the Men’s Masters category, followed by Brunei’s Louis Cheng and Abdul Aziz bin Haji Jaafar. The tournament was organised by the Brunei Squash Rackets Association (BSRA). With the invited participants from Malaysia, BSRA hopes to strengthen bonds among squash players regionally as well as to share experiences and challenges with local squash players. Acting Deputy Director of Youth and Sports Mariam binti Ulat presented the prizes for the Men’s Open and Women’s Open winners, while President of BSRA Haji Abdul Mateen bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Md Yusof presented the prizes for the Men’s Division 1 and Men’s Masters winners. By Khairil Hassan of Borneo Bulletin
FOUR Brunei national squash players are competing in the Technifibre Singapore Squash Open 2018 at the Kallang Squash Centre until December 1. The players are Abang Huzairie bin Abang Haji Ali, current Brunei number one in the Brunei Squash Rackets Association (BSRA) National Ranking; and Dzulazmi bin Haji Mutalib, number five, and a gold medallist in the recent Brunei Darussalam National Games (SKBD); Benny Ong Boon Shien (number eight); and Abang Md Safwan bin Abang Kifrawi (number nine). The players left to Singapore from the Brunei International Airport yesterday morning. President of BSRA Haji Abdul Mateen bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Yusof was present to bid them farewell at the Departure Hall of the Brunei International Airport. BSRA was the first sports association to donate to the Sulawesi Disaster Humanitarian Fund, said the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin in his capacity as the guest of honour yesterday. The Brunei Squash Rackets Association (BSRA) yesterday concludes our three day charity squash tournament to raise money for the Sulawesi Disaster Humanitarian Fund. The tournament was held at the National Squash Centre of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex. According to Tournament Director, Abang Md Huzairie bin Abang Haji Ali, the tournament has witnessed the biggest number of participation organised by the BSRA since its reestablishment this year.
BSRA has previously organised three other tournaments since the beginning of this year. The charity tournament saw Haji Saiful Rizal bin Haji Ali continued his excellent form in the domestic squash scene after winning his third title this year in the tournament. The experienced squash player defeated Dzulazmi Mutalib over four sets (11-8, 11-4, 8-11, 11-8) in a keenly-contested final, exacting revenge over a rival whom he lost to at the Brunei Darussalam National Games (SKBD). He also scooped a third title since the new committee of the Brunei Squash Rackets Association (BSRA) was formed in April, following his success in the Brunei Squash Rackets Association Squash Tournament in May and the Squash Championship trophy in conjunction with the 72nd birthday celebration of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam in July. Haji Saiful Rizal survived a late rally from Dzulazmi in the final set before moving to championship point after his opponent clawed three points to draw level, having trailed 8-5. While Haji Saiful Rizal took control of the first couple of sets, the third set gave Dzulazmi hope of forcing the tie into a deciding set. “During the final against Dzul, the play in the third set was equally balanced. He found his strokes during the game,” Haji Saiful Rizal said in an interview with the Bulletin. “I was counting on my fitness while my opponent devised a good strategy,” he added. In the women’s open, Catherine Carter claimed the title after defeating Hamidah Ismail in an 11-3 11-5 11-7 victory in a repeat of the BSRA final earlier this year. Meanwhile, Fauzi Zaini finished in third place in the men’s open category while Jormasnidah Jormasie took third place in the women’s open category. Other winners included Dominic Wong in the men’s masters category and Kenneth Kong in the men’s plate event. Men's OpenMen's Open (Plate Event)Women's OpenMen's MastersMen's BSRA National Ranking (as of today)Women's BSRA National Ranking (as of today)FOUR national squash players – Abang Md Huzairie bin Abang Haji Md Ali, Md Fauzi bin Zaini, Lim Kok Sheng and Abang Md Safwan bin Abang Kifrawi left the country yesterday to compete in the 2nd Thailand Squash Championship Open from September 27-29 in Pattaya, Thailand.
The delegation comprises of players from the Brunei Squash Rackets Association (BSRA), national squash coach Pengiran Hasnan bin Pengiran Anak Haji Rozanan and team manager Hamidah binti Haji Ismail. The championship, organised by the Thailand Squash Racket Association, will feature some 50 international players, many Professional Squash Association world ranking competitors. According to Pengiran Hasnan, their participation in the championship among others aims to prepare them for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines. Also present at the Brunei International Airport was President of BSRA Haji Abdul Mateen bin Orang Kaya Maharaja Lela Haji Yusof. |
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March 2020
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