Brunei Darussalam’s national basketball teams heading to the upcoming Borneo Intercity Basketball Tournament have high expectations to finish with a better result than last year due to the teams’ better preparations.
The Sultanate will be field a team in the men, women and veteran categories in the annual tournament, which will be hosted in Miri, Malaysia, from June 15 to 17.
“We have been looking forward to this year’s tournament, and our team has been preparing since January. We are confident in our chances,” said President of the Brunei Basketball Association (BBA) Jake Goh.
Meanwhile, national veteran team captain Kenny Lim said, “Our expectation is to lift the championship this year because we have been practicing since the start of February. We have been training well and won several friendly games; therefore, we have higher expectations this year. The players have been blending in well and are fit to compete.”
Assistant coach of the women’s national team Rania binti Halim shared, “We have been training three times per week. Throughout the months that we have been training, I have felt that we have become a close team, and I hope that what we execute in training will happen on the court.”
She added, “Last year, we were last in the tournament. This year, we are hoping to improve and be in a better position. The team chemistry is the best so far because we have more young players, and they are the future of basketball in the country.”
The men’s national team captain Lim Liang Wei, who also shared his take on the national team, said, “Our training started last year, and guys have been attending training consistently every week and we have been increasing our training intensity.
“The chances of us winning are there if we can execute our play right. I understand that some of our players are quite new and have not much experience winning.
This is where our veteran players experience comes in to help the team win. I felt that Miri would be our toughest opponent and we will be facing them in the first game,” he added.
A handover of the teams’ official jersey sponsorship was held at the BBA’s basketball court recently.
BBA deputy president Lim Boon Teck, vice president Vincent Pao and secretary general Lim Fung were also present at the ceremony. – James Kon
