Fadhil Yunus
Obstacle course racing (OCR) recently garnered attention and generated widespread interest in Brunei Darussalam following the participation of newly-assembled national athletes in the Ninja World Cup Asia 2023 in the Philippines.
The sport has been keenly followed among Brunei’s youth but the Philippines meet represents the national team’s first foray in the international circuit.
Following major successes in the Spartan racing arena in recent months, aided by a flurry of medals, a national team has been formed, helmed by a coach who also possess a background in the discipline.
The Ninja World Cup was greeted with relative success after Awangku Muhammad Habibullah bin Pengiran Haji Jufri bagged bronze in his age group.
His compatriot Awangku Muhammad Nur’Nazirul Mubin bin Pengiran Roslan also reached the men’s elite finals after advancing from his heats stage as one of the top 10 finalists.
While obstacle course racing is not often associated at a national level, it is worth recognising how a Bruneian made global spotlight notably in the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup
Brunei OCR Team Captain Muhd Hasnal Husna bin Ahmad bagged bronze, having rubbed shoulders with gold medallist and renowned American Ninja Warriors figure Drew Drechsel and leading Japanese Ninja Warriors star Morimoto Yusuke who was the silver medallist.
Muhd Hasnal Husna said, “I mainly focus on calisthenics and parkour. It gave me what I needed to cover all these obstacle courses (during the Ninja World Cup).”
“I started in these fields back in 2012, up till now. But my strongest element is in calisthenics,” he continued. “Back in 2014, my first obstacle course race was called the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup in Petaling Jaya in Malaysia where I finished third overall.”
The competition was split into three categories – speed, strength and hang – whereby Muhd Hasnal Husna managed to finish on the podium on each occasion.
He shared that he has already worked together with his teammate Ben (Awangku Muhammad Nur’Nazirul Mubin) since 2014.
Muhd Hasnal Husna also highlighted that there is vast potential in the country after taking notice a large number of enthusiasts who are venturing the discipline. “I can tell from the Alpha Challenge trial run,” he said, noting in particular that “when it comes to strength and body technique, there is potential”.
“If we can somehow make it happen or come up with a wide selection search, I’m pretty sure Brunei can win.”
It is the first time that OCR team has been recognised both nationally and internationally especially with the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), which will contest OCR as one of the sports, looming. The sport debuted in the SEA Games in 2019 after the host country Philippines introduced it, and in which they duly dominated in the men’s and women’s divisions.
The sport will once again make an appearance at the SEA Games in Cambodia, who will be the host next month.
Interest intensified after receiving the nomination to be considered for selection as one of the sports that the country will join during the SEA Games, ushering in a sense of excitement.
“Even if we weren’t given the answer yet, we were given the opportunity (the possibility of joining the SEA Games) to wait for it; we were going to work it out. So, whilst waiting we are going to work ourselves up,” said Muhd Hasnal Husna during the initial stages of the team’s journey.
“Alhamdulillah, we have our coach Rafie and our manager Yasmin to help us,” he affirmed.
Speaking on the sport itself, Muhd Hasnal Husna noted, “Obstacle course racing is a short distance and it’s not like long distance above one kilometre. In Brunei, we’ve got the potential and I believe that we can tap on this.” The country does not need to look far given how Hasnal Husna initially started from scratch in 2014. “Back then, I thought of how terrifying it was watching them on television and I only trained individually.
“And when I got there, I saw these top guys in television and then I was surprised, standing there with them on the same podium.
“Even though I didn’t win, to be standing there with the champion, that’s when I believe there’s a potential that we can do it. We have to gather all these obstacle course racing-related disciplines in Brunei,” he added.
