James Kon
Brunei Darussalam’s weightlifting team left the country yesterday to compete in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Permanent Secretary (Sports) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Pengiran Mohd Amirrizal bin Pengiran Haji Mahmud saw off the team at the Brunei International Airport.
Acting Director of Youth and Sports Haji Mohamad Rosfazilah bin Haji Yusly and other officials were also present.
Representing the Sultanate in the weightlifting event are Mohammad Nashrul bin Haji Abu Bakar and Liyana Safiah binti Haji Sidek.
Liyana is optimistic she will be able to break her personal and national record.
Her record is 125 kilogrammes (kg) for under 55kg in the combine of snatch as well as clean and jerk, while the national record for under 49kg is 100kg.
She added that the sport is growing in the Sultanate with local athletes winning medals in Thailand recently.
She hopes that more Brunei athletes will be able to compete in international and regional competitions.
Mohammad Nashrul said they are expecting tough competition but will take the learning experience to grow stronger. He is setting his aim of achieving a combined of 230kg weight in his event.
“I achieved 227kg during the Commonwealth Games. I will be competing in the under 61kg category combined snatch as well as clean and jerk,” he said.
