Source: The Bruneian
Bruneian combat athletes have secured two silver and one bronze medals at the Asian International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Championship, held recently in Japan from September 13 to 15.
The feat was an improvement to the participants, who had won two bronze medals in last year’s tournament.
Nobel Lee who represented The Refinery brought one silver and one bronze medal for Brunei respectively from his participation in the competition’s Open Weight Division and Weight Class for Purple Belt Master 2 Division.
In the open weight division he secured victory in his first round match against a Japanese opponent winning 4-0.
He advanced to the semi-final against a tough competitor from Brazil and recovered from 9-0 deficit with some back and forth action, scoring with a number of sweeps and clawed his way back to eventually win 11-9.
This took him into the final against a Chinese competitor but lost the match by submission, and settled for the silver medal.
Angel Lepi who also represented The Refinery brought home a silver medal after losing to a strong opponent from Canada in her Female Adult Blue Belt Division, despite putting up a good fight at the finals.
Abi Umamah Ali from The Refinery and Hj Abdul Hadi Bakir who represented Khalifa Mixed Martial Arts also participated in the tournament, but failed to get past their first round matches against tough Japanese opponents.
Nobel said of this competition: “It was a great experience being able to test myself against the best in Asia. There are no easy matches at this level and just one mistake can cost you the victory. I truly embraced the challenge and was satisfied with my results.”