Brunei Netball team before departing for Singapore for the SEA Games 2015. Image courtesy of BNA Facebook Page.

Brunei team and Singapore huddled up before the game. Image courtesy of Steve Lai.

Royal Bees, our Brunei national netball team, have been working tremendously hard and it’s never easy to climb up the ranks especially when it comes to sports. Sports is a dedicated activity and it usually starts at grass roots level if you want to excel to greater heights to compete internationally. Who said it was easy being an athlete or a sports person?

They have been training very hard leading to the tournament and they have been flying as well to gain more exposure to play against other teams to see the level they are at now. I would say that the Brunei netball team has improved tremendously under the guidance of their netball head coach Thilaka Jinadasa and she had made a difference to the team.

This afternoon they lost their opener to the host Singapore 72-21 and they have nothing to be ashamed of. The Royal Bees gave in their best despite being physically dominated and the Singaporeans were simply fast to begin with. Brunei had little answer to the superiority of the host but the Brunei team still gave their best shot as a team and that is the first step to success – determination.

This could be one reason why Brunei hasn’t been performing or close to grinding out results in the international level. One biggest reason for me is they are not a full time athlete or sports person. And of course, budget is another issue as sports is never seen as a priority for the development of the nation. Hence, just to see or witness how Brunei perform on the courts or fields, I’m glad to say that Brunei did their best at the level they are due to lack of resources.

Even the Brunei U-23 football team only has been gelling as a team for the past few months or so. Even You put an Arsene Wenger as a head coach for the past five months, Brunei team will definitely still struggle because of the lack of preparation and approvals. So to expect a bigger milestone for Brunei in the SEA Games will be a tall order. And the media seems to highlight one promising player Faiq Jefri Bolkiah, who signed up for the U-18 Chelsea club last year. Now the pressure is on him to deliver what he can do for Brunei and he was even given the task to lead the team as the Brunei captain.

Two days ago, Brunei performed below expectations in the football arena, losing to a better team Vietnam in the 6-0 rout. Many question marks have been put forth if Brunei is ready to take on the international stage. Yes, it’s true that in football, the ball is round meaning anything can happen and results can go either way. However, it didn’t seem to be the case for Brunei in the opening match. They didn’t even register a shot on target through the 95 minutes. Let’s hope for a better outing tonight against Laos and you can catch it live on youtube at 8:30pm

As for the Royal Bees, they will take on Myanmar tomorrow (Monday, 1st June) at 1:30pm but sadly no live telecast even on youtube.

During the opening ceremony today. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore Facebook Page.

The line up

Imagine this is the substitute GK for Singapore. Image courtesy of Steve Lai.

A huge crowd at the netball match. Image courtesy of Liew Wei Wei.

Nur Hafizah of Brunei aiming for a basket. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore Facebook Page.

Image courtesy of Netball Singapore Facebook Page

Singapore 72 Brunei 21. Image courtesy of Netball Singapore Facebook Page.

Siti Norsaihah being interviewed after the match. Image courtesy of Steve Lai.