Brunei Darussalam petanque team have written a historic chapter for the country after capturing second place of the men’s triple team in the Nation Cup of the 13th Asian Petanque Championship 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The triple men team of Mazlan Hj Yahya, Pengiran Hj Asmalina bin Pg Hj Jaya and Mohd Abdillah bin Tamit defeated Singapore 13-4 to reach the final.

In the final, Vietnam were too strong for Brunei winning 13-5. During the stage round, Brunei also stunned favourites Australia with an impressive 13-6 win.

Another impressive feat achieved by Mazlan Hj Yahya was when he clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of the Men’s Shooting event but was, however, beaten by the host Thailand by only a whisker 25-23.

Among the teams competing in the championships were Chinese Taipei, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.

According to Hj Rosmin bin Hj Hassan, the head of the Brunei’s petanque team: “I am very proud of the team, they did very well considering that Brunei were introduced to petanque three years ago and only joined the international scene two years ago. They managed to compete and beat other teams who were of a higher level.”

Present to welcome the Brunei team at the Brunei International Airport yesterday was the president of Brunei Darussalam Petanque Federation, Lt Colonel (Rtd) Pg Mohamad Noor bin Pg Hj Muhidi.

The next target for Brunei’s petanque team are to prepare for the 2010 Asian Petanque Championship which will be held in Australia.

Lt Colonel (Rtd) Pg Mohamad Noor would like to express his gratitude for the support from Youth and Sports Department and all the sponsors who have contributed to the success of the Brunei Petanque Federation.

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