Pestabaru celebrates 40 good years

The Brunei Darussalam Sepak Takraw Association (Pestabaru) held a thanksgiving ceremony in conjunction with its 40th anniversary at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas yesterday.

One of the most active sport associations in the Sultanate, Pestabaru hailed its achievements in the past four decades.

They boast the reputation of being one of the first to send representatives in the Sultanate's debut at the ninth edition of the Southeast Asian (Sea) Games, held at Kuala Lumpur back in 1977.

From then on Pestabaru have grown in strength and continues to send athletes to competitions around the world.

Mokti Hj Abd Ghani, Pestabaru chief secretariat, reminisced fondly of the marks they had made on the international stage.

"Among the achievements for the associations were made when Brunei hosted the 1999 Sea Games, in which the national team secured bronze in regu," he said. "We have also been actively participating in the King's Cup in Thailand for more than 20 years."

Pestabaru claimed their best achievement in the annual King's Cup Sepak Takraw World Championship back in 2009.

The national team won gold and silver in the men's team and men's inter-regu event respectively last year.

They competed for the top honours again this year at the Sompot 700 Years Anniversary Stadium in Chiangmai, Thailand and returned with a silver and bronze.

Both medals came from Division One events, the silver from the men's team and the bronze from the men's doubles.

Despite their success, Pestabaru continues to seek ways of improving the quality of Sepak Takraw as a whole.

Recently three members of the association underwent a referee training course in Thailand.

They received ISTAF (International Sepak Takraw Federation) level certificates that will enable them to referee matches around the world.

"This is one of the proudest moments for the association. Including the three, it means that we have about seven internationally recognised referees," said Hj Abu Bakar Kassim, Pestabaru tournament secretariat.

To further ensure that the sport remains strong in the country, Pestabaru will be organising a tournament for the youths later this month.

Planned as an annual competition, the inaugural tournament will feature six under 21-year-old teams: Schools Sports Council, Temburong, Tutong, Belait and two from Brunei-Muara.

On the international scene however, the national sepak takraw team has a busy schedule at the end of this year.

Next up on their calendar is the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Mokti revealed that the players for regu and double have all been selected and are raring to go in November. Meanwhile in December, two tournaments await for the national team.

First is the 2nd Asian Beach Games in Oman, followed by the Bimp-Eaga Friendship Games in the Philippines.

The guest of honour at the ceremony yesterday was Pg Sabri Pg Hj Mohammad, the deputy director of the Department of Youth and Sport.

The Brunei Times