Brunei win 1 gold, 8 bronze
THE national chess team returned
from the Ninth Asean Age Group Chess Tournament in Danang, Vietnam with an
impressive haul of one gold and eight bronze medals.The tournament was held from June
10-18.
Yap Choow Tun won the sultanate's only gold medal after defeating the Philippines' Edmundo
Legaspe in the Above-50 blitz category and secured a bronze in the Above-50 standard
category after finishing the third-place playoff with Singapore's FM Ignatius Leong in a
stalemate.
Though the emphasis of the tournament is on junior (Under-18) players, the win in the
Above-50 category which was only introduced last year marks the first time any Bruneian
has returned from an Asean Age Group Chess Tournament with gold. Each Bruneian competitor
participated in three different events: Classical (60 minutes), Rapid (30 mins) and Blitz
(5 mins).
Mohd Arif Afifi bin Sabli, Muhd Aliuddin Hj Azahari and his brother Muhd Nur Arriffin each
won a bronze in the Under-18 Open category after placing third in all three events, while
Ira Kartika Dewi binte Sabli, Siti Nur Fatimah Hj Azahari and her sister Siti Nur Fatanah
also picked up bronze medals in the Under-16 Girls' category after also placing third in
all three events contested.
But the most inspiring result from this year's contingent came in the Under-10 Open
category where newcomers Muhd Iqbal Abqari, Mohd Nabil Sabli, Paddy Koh and See Jun Wei
grabbed the country's last bronze medal after defeating opponents from Indonesia, Malaysia
and South Korea in the blitz event.
Except for Cambodia and Laos, all Asean countries were represented in Vietnam, with
Australia, India and South Korea the three non-Asean member countries that had sent
representatives to the competition.
The Brunei Chess Federation said it hoped that through the event the youngsters would gain
the much needed early international exposure that would help them excel and be more
competitive in future tournaments.
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