Why isn't Tan on the national team

ESMOND TAN (pic) has revealed to The Brunei Times that the chances of him to make it into Brunei's new national squad were already slim from the start, due to his personal commitments.

National basketball coach Kevin Reece has assembled the team to represent Brunei at the 2010 Borneo Cup, which the Sultanate will host from Aug 13-15, but the new national side will not feature Tan, arguably the best cager in the country, in the line-up.

Reece had called out to all potential players in the country to step forward and attend tryouts to be part of the national team last month and Tan had failed to attend any sessions.

"I couldn't make myself available for training because of work commitments. I just came back from a holiday and there was no way I could have made it to the selection," said Tan, when met at the Brunei International Airport in Berakas yesterday.

"I haven't been playing as much as well. All I could do was shoot a couple of hoops during my free time," added the former Barracudas player.

Tan had been on a sabbathical for the past month with a getaway to Australia and only returned yesterday.

The 26-year-old, who is working for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), will not be available from July 29 - August 13 since he will be offshore.

"I just wish the team all the best in the upcoming tournament to do the country proud." The new team comprise of a slightly different line-up compared to Reece's previous selection, back in March, as players were selected based on their performances during the 9th National Sports Festival (PSK) which concluded late last month.

Ben Sim, Lim Liang Wei and Choo Yung Jian are the players that represented the Belait district while Pg Md Faizuladzmi Pg Tajuddin is the sole cager from the Tutong district.

The duo of Soon Kian Leong and Lim Aik Hock represented Temburong while the rest of the team Hj Md Badri Hj Suhaili, Yap Chun Ping, Muhd Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin, Po Yung Hui, Tan Ye Wei and Muiz Hj Abdul Ghani laced up for the Brunei-Muara district.

There will be three categories contested at the three-day competition: Men's Open, Men's Veteran (40 years old and above) and Women's Open. The hosts will be sending a team for all the categories.

A total of four teams including Brunei with Kota Kinabalu, Miri and Labuan being the others have confirmed their participation in the annual competition.

The Brunei Times