BY Fadhil Yunus

Brunei Darussalam’s national contingent comprising members from the swimming and pencak silat teams returned home to a heroes’ welcome on Monday following their exploits in the concluded 20th Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

National swimmer Joel Ling Thai Yu won silver in the men’s 200m backstroke event with a time of 2:12.91s and subsequently setting a new record, eclipsing his previous mark of 2:14:68 which he set during the preliminary round.

Joel also clocked a new national record in the men’s 100m backstroke event with a time of 1:00.90s, bettering his own record of 1:00.91s which he set during the 29th Brunei Age Group Championship 2022.

It also marked the first time that the country had medalled in a swimming event in the Malaysia Games. Meanwhile, national pencak silat athlete Md Izzamuddin bin Taha collected bronze in the men’s tanding Class ‘A’ event.

Permanent Secretary (Sports) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud greeted their arrival and presented sashes and congratulated the medallists for their outstanding performances.

Acting Director of Youth and Sports Haji Mohamad Rosfazilah bin Haji Yusly was also present.

The Brunei Darussalam contingent for the 2022 Sukma Games was led by Umi Kalthum binti Haji Abdul Karim as the Chef de Mission.

In this year’s edition, Brunei contested in five sports – aquatics (swimming), karate, pencak silat, petanque and wushu.

The other silver medallist was Farhah Syahirah Mohd Shamrin in the women’s individual kata event while the trio of Khairul Shafiq bin Khairul Arifin, Muhammad Nazirul bin Haji Johar and Awangku Ahmad Munib Aiman bin Pengiran Hasimudin won bronze in the men’s team kata event.

Brunei finished with two silver and two bronze overall.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin